Far From Home
by coyotegrrrl18
Summary: AU - This story begins at the end of Rookie Blue Season 3. When Gail takes the fall for the shooting in the lock-up of Division 15 her life begins to fall apart. After she is brought up on charges, she makes a deal to save herself and her entire life changes.
1. Chapter 1

**Just over a week ago Weed asked if I would consider writing an AU Gail & Holly fic. I'm not sure this is what you had in mind, but I hope you like it! **

Mist rose from the river as the first orange rays of the sun peeked out from behind the cool grey blue skyline of the city you now call home. Traffic rumbled softly by, headlights still glowing in the early morning gloom, as you turned onto the bridge and ran on quiet feet toward the office of the MIT Police headquarters in hopes of getting a jump on the day. Your father had pulled a number of strings to get you this job, and you knew you should be more grateful. So you ran, until your legs turned to jelly, the bitterness seeped out of your pours, until all you could hear was the sound of your feet hitting the pavement, and the beating of your own heart.

The students had arrived with you to a new fall semester, in a new place. You knew it was going to be a hot one today, hotter for this time of year than you were accustom. Sweat trickled down your back and between your breasts as you ran. Breathing in the scent of the river and the scent of salt air from the distant harbor as a soft cool breeze picked up from the East, reminded you that you are so far from home. You shook your head and picked up your pace. There was no going back.

Everything was wrong. You knew you had been a fool, the realization hitting you too late as you heard the disappointment in your father's voice. Your mother still hadn't spoken more than two words to you since the incident, and for once in your adult life you wished that she would. She had been there, sitting taciturnly, at the meeting where you agreed to resign your post immediately after testifying against Ross Perrick, in exchange for not being stripped of your badge and brought up on charges of the wrongful death of a prisoner in police custody due to gross negligence. Somebody had to take the fall for what had happened. You stupidly stepped forward, having listened to your fellow rookies about how being a Peck would save you. Admittedly, if your parents hadn't used all of their political clout, it would have been worse. A lot worse.

And it was worse. Your stubbornness and pride would not allow you to tell anyone, certainly not your family, about your other predicament, although the signs of your current affliction will become evident soon enough. The one person you should tell was unreachable anyway. Nick left you take a deep undercover assignment the week before you were brought before the tribunal, and would be gone with no contact for at least six months. So fuck him! You knew you were being unfair. Everyone, including you, had wanted in on that assignment. Life isn't fair. You also knew that with one phone call to your brother, you could inform Nick of the thing you had only recently allowed yourself to acknowledge. But even with all that had happened, or maybe because of it, you wouldn't let yourself reach out to him. He would, of course, do the chivalrous thing, wanting to do the right thing. Of course he would. He would drop everything for this, and you weren't sure how you felt about that. Nick had a way of disappearing just as things between you got to be intense, and just when you really needed him. He had left you once before, at the altar no less, and you weren't sure if you wanted him back this time. You certainly had no intention of returning to Toronto any time soon.

Although Steve, and Traci, and Chris, had each called you at least once a week in the six weeks you have been here, you kept the conversations short, unable to stand listening to the pity in their voices, and finding it harder and harder to keep your secret. Your parents haven't called at all. No, you are going to keep this to yourself, at least for now.

The last time it had been simple. He had been older, the son of one of your parents' friends, now an instructor at the academy, and married as well. You had never been in love with him. It had been a simple case of mutual lust fueled by the illicit nature of the affaire, and the flattery of his overwhelming attraction for you. As soon as you discovered your accidental mistake, as he liked to call it, you dealt with it as quickly and efficiently as possible. When it was done, you honestly could say you felt tired, and sore, slightly sad, but mostly relieved. After Perrick, there was no way you could deal with any kind of invasive medical procedure. You had panic attacks just thinking about it. Now, here you were in a strange city, in a foreign country, about to become a single mother by default. You had never been so alone in your life.

The city was waking up now. The scent of diesel fumes from a passing bus becoming almost unbearable as you ran down the tree-lined street passed the tall columns and towering architecture of the front of the University. Crossing at the pedestrian light, you finally stopped to stretch on the steps in front of the student center, before flopping lazily on the grass, allowing the cool earth to drain the heat and remaining tension from your body. Shit. You'd been on staff for over a month now, and really should make that appointment at the MIT health services to confirm what you already knew. Flinging a sweaty arm across your closed eyes, you wondered how this is going to fuck up your already fucked up life. Boston was supposed to be your clean break, your fresh start, and your last chance to redeem yourself. Steve said your mother told him as much. A bitter laugh escapes you as you note the irony that you couldn't even get that part right.

"This is The People's Republic of Cambridge, not the City of Boston!" Bobby O'Brien, your new partner, informed you on your first day on the job. Bobby reminds you of Oliver, easily deflecting your snark with off color humor of his own, and taking you under his wing, treating you like another daughter. Coming from a large Irish family, with three sisters and two grown daughters of his own, you are sure your early signs of pregnancy have not gotten past him. Although he doesn't ask questions, he guilelessly reminds you that you have great health insurance on the day your benefits package kicks in. God, you miss Oliver!

You sit up and push yourself off the lawn, stopping to run your fingers through your hair in a vein attempt to tame your messy ponytail. Striding the last few blocks to the station, you ignore the growing hunger in your belly. There will be time to take care of that later. With any luck, Bobby will have a full stash of fresh doughnuts from that crazy doughnut place in Union Square. Just the thought of a Maple Bacon doughnut from there makes you walk faster and your mouth begin to water.

Working for the MIT police force is weird. You have a badge and a gun, and jurisdiction in three cities and then some. MIT and Harvard run their own little fiefdom on this side of the river with somewhat of a rivalry with the Boston University Police on the Boston side. And then there are the actual city police forces to deal with as well. It's all kinds of confusing, but at least you still feel like a real cop, not a glorified security officer, as you feared when you took this job.

"Well, if it isn't little Miss Sunshine herself!" Timmy Callahan, a retired Boston Police Sergeant, teases, in his thick South Boston accent, from behind the front desk at the station, "Whadda ya doin' in so early in the mornin'?"

You roll your eyes and give him your very best look of death. It seems to have little to no affect on him. He winks at you as he buzzes you in.

You make your way to the women's locker room hoping it will be empty. It's still before seven as you emerge from the shower, skin glowing pink in the sunlight that filters in through the upper windows, and you have just over an hour to kill before your shift. Basking in the silence of early morning, before the arrival of other officers changing shifts, coming and going, before the day takes hold, you take a minute, just a minute, to be still before it all begins.

The afternoon begins with a call from 2 members of the MIT women's crew team. You and Bobby park your car and make your way down the banks of the Charles to a place where the reeds grow thick. Yup. That's a human skeleton all right. Better cordon off the area, detain the rowers, and call it in to the Cambridge Police. As you await their arrival, a tall geeky woman carrying a red bag, wearing tall rubber boots over her blue jeans, a quilted jacket, and a bored expression breezes past you under the crime scene tape. What the…!

"Hey Lunchbox!" you call after her, sounding annoyed, "You're not allowed down there!"

"Thanks! Appreciate it!" She calls back, continuing on her way, paying you no more attention.

You sigh and try to sound exasperated "I said, " You say louder, "You're not allowed down there!"

"Who me?" She turns, amusement clearly registering on her face.

You gesture at her. Like duh! Who else am I talking to? What is wrong with people in this city?!

"Oh, no, I am." Her sparkling eyes and smirk tell you she is finding this situation far too amusing. "I need to get some samples…."

"Who are you?" You interrupt and take what you hope is a menacing step forward. You look around for Bobby, but he is busy interviewing the students, and isn't helping. In-fact, you can tell that he's trying hard not to laugh at you.

"The Forensic Pathologist." She says in a voice that sounds like she is trying to explain something so simple to someone really dense, but her smile never fades.

"Oh, " You try to brush off your mistake, and move closer, cop swagger fully engaged, "Why didn't you say so?"

"Sorry, " Her voice is dripping with sarcasm as she glances at what you called her lunchbox, "I though it was obvious…"

"Only to nerds." You counter, "Can you come back later?"

Clearly not intimidated, she takes a step in your direction and starts saying something about how you are not up on your medical jurisprudence. You glance at Bobby over her shoulder, who is having a conversation with Cambridge Police Detective Cruz. As she asks you something about if you noticed whether or not the skeleton's femur is still intact, you shake your head. What you do notice is that Bobby and Detective Cruz definitely are laughing at you. Shit. You refocus on her just as she is spouting something about the postmortem interval. She is now looking at you expectantly.

"Why are you saying all of these words?" You scowl menacingly at her.

She simply smirks at you, before turning away to complete her task at hand.

Before you know it, Bobby has volunteered you to babysit the bones at the Cambridge city morgue. This means you will be stuck with this annoying forensic pathologist for the rest of the day. Great. Just what you need. You sigh and resign yourself to it. At least you will have a quiet afternoon. You think to yourself, how bad could it be?


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all of your Comments, PMs and Tweets! I'm Glad you all seem to like this. **

"Holly, Holly Stewart." She corrected you in the car after the fourth time you called her Lunchbox, eyes twinkling and lips curled into a gentle lopsided smile.

"Holly, I don't think we're in Cambridge anymore…" You had deadpanned, as you pulled into the morgue on Albany St., in Boston.

She shot you a look as if to say you weren't nearly as funny as you thought you were.

You spent the afternoon stationed behind her desk, jovially insulting her, only to have your comments thrown back at you with far more whit and charm than you could ever muster. She had finally coaxed you out, throwing a pair of purple exam gloves your way and giving you a lesson in anatomy, in identifying bones and the signs of impact trauma. By the time the day was over, you realized you were enjoying her company and didn't want it to end. You found yourself making some convoluted analogy about being a cat in a tree, in an attempt to make a connection with her. For some strange reason, the thought of Holly becoming just another person you randomly saw every so often during the course of your job made you sad. You were really bad at this, but it worked much to your surprise. She was looking at you with a somewhat serious puzzled expression until you, for some reason, confessed that you suck at relationships. You had expected some non-committal quip, or some pointed snarky comment, but instead she had taken you seriously, and ended up coming out to you as a lesbian. You covered up the unexpected jolt to your solar plexus that accompanied her confession under a generous helping of snark and swagger, with an off-handed comment about how you just hate people. You could hear her laughter as you walked away, and were genuinely surprised when she caught up to you and asked if you were hungry.

"Holly," you stated seriously, "I'm always hungry."

And there it was again, the lopsided smile, and that twinkle in her eye.

You ended up at a Chinese restaurant in Central Square, that was much bigger and better than it had appeared from the street, talking late into the night. As it turned out, she was Canadian too, from Victoria, having come here to get her degree at Harvard Medical School, and then landing a coveted internship at Mass General Hospital. Her job as a lab tech at the morgue suddenly turned into something else after she graduated at the top of her class.

You marvel at how suddenly the evening turned to midnight and you are the last two people in the place. It has never been this easy, not with anyone. You are hard, and mean and closed off, and yet somehow this chick that you just met knows more about you than people who have known you for years. How did she do that? You blame your stupid hormones, because you can. After Perrick, you have been reluctant to let anyone know where you live, but you even let her drive you home to the tall apartment building by the river that houses a mixture of Harvard and MIT graduate students, along with some staff, like yourself. Yes, it must be the damn hormones, you decide.

In the morning you awake to a dull pain in your head and an urgent need to run for the toilet. Unfortunately, as the days go by, morning sickness has turned into afternoon sickness, has turned into evening sickness, and so on. Just catching a whiff of the wrong scent at the wrong time can send you running to empty your guts out at any time, any place. It's so fucking annoying! You have also been more emotional over nothing lately, much to your chagrin. God, you're such a mess! Just last night, after you got home, you burst into tears while watching a dog food commercial on the Weather Channel. Who does that?! You have six and a half more months before you stop sharing your body with this alien creature, and you have no idea how you are going to get through it!

Later, riding with Bobby, you lose your lunch in the nearest trashcan of the men's locker room as you were supposed to be investigation allegations of a possible hazing incident. You leave him there to interview a couple of witnesses and run for the men's room. How embarrassing.

"Someone had a late night." Bobby comments, when you finally emerge from the attached restroom. "You should really get that stomach condition of yours checked out." He continues with an all-knowing, slightly wry expression.

"Bobby, " You counter, giving him your best icy Peck glare, "We're in the men's locker room. Just because you never bathe doesn't mean other people have lost their sense of smell, and aren't effected by the disgusting rank odor in here."

Bobby simply raises an eyebrow at you, shrugs and finishes writing up his notes.

"I'll be talking to the victim outside." You tell him, leaving as quickly as possible, trying to ignore the remaining queasiness you are feeling in the pit of your stomach.

The young man is waiting for you on a bench by the field, and you wonder if he is really old enough to be in collage. You sigh and ask him gently to recount the numerous acts of bullying his dorm mates have inflicted on him, and when exactly it began.

Why do you want to bring another child into this world again? You have one more week before it's too late to easily terminate this pregnancy. You toy with the idea, but you know that you won't do it. You shake your head to clear it, and hand the young man your card.

"Don't worry," You tell him, "Call me for any reason. Officers will be picking those guys up after their afternoon class, right about now. They shouldn't bother you again!"

Bobby is waiting in the car as you return to slump gratefully in your seat. He doesn't say a word, but the concerned look on his face makes you wary.

"What." You roll your eyes at him.

"You do know Peck, that we're partners, right?" He says, and there is a slight edge to his voice.

"Yeah. So?" You really don't want to be having this discussion with him right now.

"So, you know I got your back." Bobby is glancing sideways at you as he puts the car in drive.

"Yeah." You answer warily. Sometimes he makes you think, this might be Chris when he grows up. You hate to admit it, but you miss him too.

"So, I just want you to know that you can tell me anything, and I got you." Bobby persists.

"Thanks Bobby." You lean back and close your eyes, clearly not wanting to talk.

"Ok then." He responds, and brings his eyes back to the road.

You drive back to HQ in silence. Bobby doesn't try to prod you into talking to him again, and you finish your paperwork in relative peace and quiet. As your shift is ending your phone buzzes.

Traci: Your brother asked me out again.

You smile as you type. Traci is the closest thing you have to a friend who totally gets you. Even though you've been exiled to this far away place, you still text with her almost every day.

Prettier Peck: Now that I'm not there to be scarred for life by you doing PDA with him in front of me, you should totally go for it!

Traci: Gail… that's kind of…

Prettier Peck: You keep telling me to get back up on the horse. Why don't you make your horse my brother?

Traci: IDK what if I'm not ready?

You find yourself fighting off a wave of guilty tears. Leaning heavily onto your desk, you press the heels of your hands hard into your eyes and will the flood of emotion to stop. This is ridiculous! You finally get up and scurry off to the locker room, hoping no one has noticed. You sit on a bench before getting in the shower and reply.

Prettier Peck: He really likes you.

Your phone is blinking at you as you get out of the shower. You pick it up expecting it to be Traci, but it is someone else instead.

Lunchbox: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is playing at the Brattle Theatre tonight. Want to go?

She must have entered her contact info into your phone while you were in the bathroom last night. Normally you would think that was creepy, but you are strangely flattered and amused that she has entered herself under the name Lunchbox.

Officer Sunshine: Are you stalking me?

Officer Sunshine? Really?

Lunchbox: You're the one who said you were bored with sitting around by yourself and playing World of Warcraft on line with your friends back home.

Officer Sunshine: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof? The one with Liz Taylor?

Lunchbox: I knew that Maggie was your kind of girl, Kitten.

Officer Sunshine: You did not just call me Kitten.

Lunchbox: You're the one who called yourself a cat ;)

You groan and roll your eyes.

Officer Sunshine: OK, but you're paying.

Lunchbox: Meet me there at 7

You find yourself singing quietly to yourself as you lace up your boots. You haven't felt this good, this hopeful, in a long time you realize with a small jolt of surprise. Weird. Well, if you don't hurry to catch the bus, you are going to be late. You smile and wave at Bobby as you dash out the door. Who knows? Maybe things are starting to look up.


	3. Chapter 3

It has been a fucking long day, a fucking long week really, but tonight you are going to kick back and celebrate!. Living in University housing is weird. You are relaxing on the incredibly comfortable black leather couch you just rescued from being tossed into the dumpster by one of the grad students down the hall. They were redecorating their apartment yesterday, and you became the recipient of their old couch, a Japanese looking floor lamp made from that white paper and bamboo screen, and a pale blue paisley rug. It all looks almost new, and you would swear that the couch alone cost more than a month of your salary. Moving here was easy. You didn't have a whole lot of your own furniture to move from the frat house where you lived with Dov and Chris, just a bed and a dresser with a mirror, and an armoire full of clothes. Steve gifted you with his old thirty-six inch TV and a coffee table he had since his first apartment. So, tonight you and Holly are going to christen your new couch with pizza and your own private shark weekend Jaws marathon.

Although you and she have been hanging out quite a bit since you met her three weeks ago, this is the first time you have invited her up to your place. She should be here with the pizza any time now; one Special, hold the tomato sauce, from Pinocchio's, the hole-in-the-wall place she swears makes the best pizza ever. You realize you are more nervous about this than you should be, so you intentionally dressed down and are forcing yourself to sit on your couch and not to pace. You have already changed into a comfy old pair of sweats, a ratty Rush T-shirt that you stole from Steve long ago, and a bulky, oversized, baggy Bruins hoodie that Bobby gave you last week. He just laughed when you complained that you don't do sports, and told you if you were going to live in this town, you would have to get over it. Massholes, he insisted, were the only people in the world who love their hockey more than Canadians.

Your phone rings, and you answer it without looking, assuming that it's Holly waiting downstairs for you to buzz her in. It turns out to be your mother.

_FUCK! _

You haven't spoken with her in almost three months and you wonder why she is calling you now.

"Gail, " She starts right in without saying even "Hello" or asking how you've been. "Jonathan's daughter is getting married on the Cape next weekend."

_Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…_

"I'm fine, Mother. How are you?" You reply coldly.

She continues on as if she wasn't just interrupted. "Your father and I RSVPed for you on our behalf, so I hope you have something decent to wear."

"_You WHAT?"_ You manage to sputter. This is exactly the kind of social engagement you hate, and were hoping to never have to attend again now that you were far from the social climbing world of your mother's sphere.

"Gail," She reminds you with icy patience, "Without Jonathan, you might very well be spending the rest of your life as a waitress. Don't be ungrateful."

Jonathan Brigham Coolidge and your father met during their junior year abroad at Oxford University and become fast friends. Your father had been a student at McGill, Jonathan at Yale. He is currently the head of security for Biomedics Inc., a multi-national, medical engineering corporation. Although he told your father there were no openings for you on his team at the time, he would ask around and see if he could find something suitable for you. Jonathan plays squash with your boss's boss at the Harvard Racket Club twice a week. Three short days after faxing your resume and letters of recommendation to the head of MIT security forces, you were hired on to the MIT Police Force as a Junior Officer.

"Couldn't you just send a gift?" You whine.

"Gail, you know how important networking can be." She purrs in a smooth, deadly voice, "And besides, there will be a number of eligible young men of the right kind there. You really should be thinking about your future. I know that you're not meeting anyone."

"Like any of them would want me now." You mutter, half to yourself.

"What was that Gail?" She replies sharply.

"That's too bad Mother, cuz I'm actually only in the market for ineligible young men of the wrong kind." You state louder.

"Well that's obvious, given your past choices. You really should take a better outlook on life Gail. You are an attractive young woman from a good family." She scolds. "Please tell me that you are watching your weight and haven't done anything crazy with your hair."

"Yes Mother." You sigh. " Fine. Look, I'll go on the condition that I can bring a friend."

"How are you supposed to meet anyone of substance if you don't put yourself out there?" She chides.

You remain silent.

"Ok fine." She concedes, exasperation clear in her voice, "I'll let Jonathan and Emily know you'll be bringing a friend. I'm sending you the information now, along with your hotel reservation, and a gift card for you to get something decent to wear at Neman Marcus."

"Mother!" You start to complain.

"And Gail, please don't wear black, or anything leather. You don't want to look like a tramp, you know." And she hangs up the phone without saying goodbye.

You get up and begin to pace.

"No, of course not. How about an unwed pregnancy? How would that make you look, Mother?" You practically growl into the dead receiver. "Yes, I'm doing fine. The job is going well. And gosh Mother, I missed you and everyone else at Thanksgiving last week too. So sorry I had plans and must have missed your invitation…"

You rant, you pace, the edges of your phone biting painfully into your hand. Throwing the phone across the room to land on the couch, you continue to pace more. Your jaw clenches to the point where you think your teeth will crack and splinter beneath your rage. Your phone buzzes again, and you pick it up without thinking.

"What." You answer abruptly.

"Gail?" Holly's voice answers softly, "Gail? Are you ok?"

_Shit._

"Yeah. Sorry. I'm fine. Are you here?" You grunt at her.

"Yeah, but you know, it's ok if you're not up for this. I mean we could do this some other time…" Holly is starting to ramble nervously.

"No. No. It's fine. Should I buzz you in, or do I need to come down?" You ask, trying to sound calm.

"Really Gail, I think I can find my way up." You can hear the smirk return to her voice.

"Ok, great!" You hit the buzzer while trying to take deep, calming breaths through your nose. You hate it that your mother can still invade your world like nothing happened, and make a wreck out of you.

* * *

><p>You know it's getting late as you get up between Jaws 2 and Jaws 3-D to get Holly another IPA, and yourself another glass of ice tea. Even though you are having a hard time keeping your eyes open, you don't want this evening to end.<p>

"I'm sorry about earlier." You say softly, as you hand her the beer and snuggle back under the blanket you are sharing. "My mother called, and anyways, she always makes me a little crazy…"

"Don't be sorry." She says, scooting closer and placing her hand on your thigh. "It's ok. I get it."

She gives your leg a friendly shake, and you feel a warm burst of electricity radiating out from her palm. Normally, you hate being touched, but somehow with Holly, it feels so natural, so right that you find yourself snuggling closer. You lean forward to move the half empty pizza box to one side of the coffee table so you can get closer still. Settling back down to press yourself into Holly's side. As you do, you feel her sigh contentedly and wrap her arm around your shoulder. You begin to feel the tension begin to drain from your body as you close your eyes and succumb to the warm comfort of her embrace, her thumb tracing absent minded, soothing patterns on your bicep.

"Holly?" You mumble sleepily into her neck.

"Mmmm." She hums back at you.

"What are you doing next weekend?" You ask quietly.

"I donno. Why?" She replies

You shift and snake an arm across her waist as you cuddle closer.

"My mother wants me to go to this wedding on the Cape next Saturday, and I won't know anyone there. Would you help me out and be my plus one?" You hope that it doesn't sound too weird, or needy.

"Officer Gail Peck! Are you asking me out on a date?" She teases

"Nope!" You slap the arm that has snaked across yours and is holding you lightly. "Come on Holly, just say yes!" You whine at her.

"Ok, ok, I'll go with you!" She laughs, and kisses you on the forehead "You are insane. You know that. Right?"

You tilt your head up before you realize what you are doing and kiss her back on the lips ever so briefly, sending a pleasant, unexpected shock through your body.

"Thanks Holly!" You smile as you snuggle back in ignoring the butterflies that have suddenly taken flight in the pit of your stomach. You close your eyes and drift off to sleep, feeling cozy and safe for the first time you can remember in a long, long time.


	4. Chapter 4

The game had been a wild one, Harvard VS Yale with none other than James Taylor singing the National anthem. God, you hate football! And across the river the Red Sox were in another pennant race adding to the heightened chaos. Ugh. Sports! You and Bobby chased the purse snatching punk through the throngs of people, all the way across Harvard Square and down into the subway, only to be stopped by a couple of MBTA police on a power trip. Bobby had gotten into it with the stupid, idiot T- cops, who couldn't even have been as old as you. As the thief hopped the turnstile, boarded a train and got away clean, Bobby expressed his extreme displeasure. Finally he and the T-Cops ended up screaming at each other about jurisdiction until the real Cambridge city cops showed up and made them all stand down. To make matters worse, there was a full three minutes of Bobby's little stand-off with those MBTA idiots already uploaded to Youtube by the time you got back to HQ. You received a standing ovation from your fellow officers and a dressing down from your boss upon your arrival. At least you had the weekend to look forward to. Sort of.

It's later than you had planned to leave, but with the game starting at 7pm, your shift was extended to an all hands on deck Friday night. At least you were getting paid overtime. Bobby shooed you out the door as early as he could, insisting that he finish your extra paperwork, that you looked tired, that you should go get out of here and have some fun this weekend. He was the one who took you shopping when you whined at him about your weekend plans. You have always hated shopping in mall stores like Neiman Marcus, complaining that both they, and your mother, give you hives. Bobby laughed, and brought you to a funky vintage clothing warehouse, where no one looked twice at his hulking presence in work boots and an old flannel shirt. Surprising you with an excellent fashion sense, he picked you out a classic, mid-thigh a-line, fit and flair dress, with a sleeveless bodice in gold, and black silk lace overlay. You threatened to tase him in the nuts when you modeled it for him and he wolf whistled at you, telling your cleavage about how great you look in it. He merely grinned and said, "You're welcome."

Holly is picking you straight up from work tonight, and driving down to Provincetown with you for that dumb-ass wedding thing in the morning. You sit for a moment to wait for her on the bench in front of the station. You watch the students strolling by on the sidewalk under the streetlights, blissfully oblivious and unaware of your presence in the shadows. You stretch out, legs extended, ankles crossed, letting your head tip back as pure exhaustion closes your eyes for just a moment. To be fair, you haven't been sleeping well this week, in-fact you haven't had much rest lately at all. You have been having stress nightmares about your abduction, again. The sound of echoing footsteps in the dark getting closer, the scent of Old Spice in musty, stale air, as you lye there unable to move, unable to make a sound. On top of all that, your hormones seem to have sent your libido into overdrive with nowhere to go. On the nights when you do manage to get yourself to sleep, you have been having intense wet dreams involving soft hands and gentle lips caressing every part of your lonely, aching body. If that weren't enough, on some nights you find one weird dream sequence morphing terrifyingly into the other, waking you up in a cold sweat with a raging fire between your legs that will not be denied. No, not much rest at all. You wonder aimlessly what your shrink back home would think about that.

If you were to be honest with yourself, you are becoming more and more nervously excited about spending the weekend with Holly. Breathing in the cool night air, you begin to smile, remembering how you've been teasing her all week about needing her to be your lesbian ambassador to the big gay Mecca of the East when you are not at the actual wedding. She has taken it all in stride, teasing you back about your needing a bodyguard to keep the big, bad, scary lesbians from trying to recruit you into switching teams while you are there. You are still smiling as you open your eyes to find the object of your thoughts standing in front of you.

"Ready to go?" She smiles back at you

You pick up your bags and shuffle to her waiting Prius, carefully laying your garment bag out on her back seat. She openly laughs at you as you whine about your day and about how much you hate weddings.

"I know, it's awful," She teases, after a particularly venomous rant on your part about the disgustingly cloying nature of these kinds of events, "I usually dodge this stuff, but you needed a plus one, and I'm all about growing these days…"

She reaches over and gives your knee a little squeeze, making you blush, and sending your heartbeat into embarrassing overdrive. You blame your stupid pregnant hormones for causing your body to react like this to her intoxicating, light touch. She is a woman after all, and you are straight, _aren't you_? Not that you care, you have simply never given it much thought, until now.

"I just hope we can get this over with quickly, and escape to the beach or something." You fire back, hoping your belligerent tone cleverly disguises how flustered you are suddenly feeling.

She laughs and sooths your thigh with the palm of her hand sending a pleasant chill up your spine, making your nipples become almost instantly painfully tight and hard.

_Damn it!_

"I'll see what I can do to sneak off with you as quickly as possible." She chuckles, shaking her head.

Her hand remains resting on your thigh for the rest of the two and a half hour drive as you drift off to sleep.

You aren't sure if it's the hand that is shaking you gently or the dream that wakes you to find yourself sitting in Holly's car in the parking lot of the Provincetown Hotel. The hands on your body were electric and the soft, purposeful lips on yours were kissing you with an intensity you have never in your life experienced. It takes you a moment to realize where you are and focus on who is talking to you. You feel your whole body flush and you find it hard to look into Holly's eyes, hoping you didn't give yourself away by moaning or talking in your sleep.

"I already checked us in." She smiles at you, "I hope you don't mind. You looked so tired, and you were sleeping so soundly, I didn't want to wake you before it was necessary."

You grunt at her and sit up, blinking in the dashboard light, clearly still half asleep.

"Come on, " She says, "Let's go find our room."

"Ok," You mumble as you right yourself and stumble after her.

Upon entering the well-appointed suite your mother arranged for you, you realize there is only one incredibly luxurious looking queen size bed. You begin to stutter out an apology and offer to sleep on the couch when Holly takes you by the hand and sits you down on the edge of the bed.

"It's ok." She says in a quiet, almost shy voice you have never heard from her before, "If you are uncomfortable with sharing the bed, I can take the couch."

You immediately feel bad about the way she won't look at you.

"Don't be ridiculous!" You counter, brashly, grabbing her by the hand, pulling her back to sit on the bed beside you. "But I do have to warn you, I will steal all of the covers."

"Ok." She looks up finally, chewing adorably on her lower lip as she assesses your offer.

You catch a fleeting glimpse of something you could swear is desire smoldering in her eyes before she smiles at you and it is gone.

"So," You yawn, "which side of the bed do you want?"

You wake up to the sound of birds, the scent of the ocean, and a warm body fit snugly and ever so comfortably against your back. You have never been a cuddler, always pushing your boyfriends away in your sleep, firmly staking out your side of the bed, but then you have never felt this comfortable with anyone, ever. You realize with a shock, that this is the third time this week you have woken up in Holly's arms, and you like it! The other two times have been after falling asleep on your couch while watching movies, and waking up stiff and sore in the middle of the night. You wish you could stay this way forever, but your bladder won't let you. Holly has rolled onto her back as you emerge from the bathroom, with one arm flung over her head, her dark hair fanned out across the white linens. There is a warm feeling spreading in your chest as you watch her sleeping for just a moment longer than you know you should. You don't know what to do with these feelings, so you push them back as you put on a robe to go in search of coffee.

Amazingly, you didn't have to puke this morning, and you are feeling pretty good. Earlier this week you noticed that your belly is no longer flat, and your morning sickness is starting to subside, even if you do have to pee like every five minutes. It's not a big enough change for other people to notice yet, but your pants are starting to be snug, and soon you won't be able to conceal it anymore. You know that Bobby knows. He started bringing you orange juice every morning, and commenting about how you need more folic acid in your diet after watching you be sick for the fourth day in a row. For a guy who looks like an aging construction worker, or a cop, he certainly is full of surprises. When you asked him how he knew, he simply shrugged and told you he grew up in a house full of women, and now he has three daughters of his own all in their late teens and early twenties.

"Hey." Holly's voice calls softly to you from the bed, accompanied by a yawn and a stretch. "I really hope one of those is for me."

"Uh huh." You smile and nod placing the coffees down on the bedside table.

You can't help but think how adorable she is in the morning, looking all rumpled and softly unfocused. You are about to pick yours up and go, when she scoots over, making room for you, and pulls back the covers. You hesitate for a moment before climbing back in to sit with your back resting against the headboard. She cuddles into your side, pressing her face sleepily into your crook of your neck.

"Mmm… I don't wanna get up." She murmurs, her lips ghosting against your collarbone, sending a wave of goosebumps across your skin.

"Ok, " You tell her, handing her her coffee, "But don't blame me if you miss the delicious blueberry waffles with bacon I understand are for breakfast in the lounge this morning."

She sits up abruptly, nearly spilling her coffee. "Well why didn't you say so?" She narrows her eyes accusatorily at you, and takes a sip.

You smirk back. She really is adorable. And then it hits you. You just want to kiss her. You feel your heart beat pick up as you look at her lips, again, and you know you are in so much trouble. _Shit._ _Stupid hormones._ But you know that there is more to it than just that. Holly is the most wonderful person you have ever met, and you realize you might just be falling for her. _Shit, shit, shit!_ You also realize that she is watching you intently, waiting for you to say something. The silence between you is suddenly thick and charged with heady expectation. You lean in, your eyes never leaving hers. You could get lost in her eyes. You stop, your face mere inches from hers, and watch her eye lids start to flutter reflexively shut. It's all too much.

"Holly, " You whisper, your voice embarrassingly horse and low, "If you don't get your lazy bones out of bed, you are going to miss breakfast. And I'm going to eat all of your bacon!"

You push yourself abruptly away from her and bounce out of bed. You have to or you just might lose control and fuck up the best friendship you ever had.

"Coming?" You shoot over your shoulder as you speed toward the door.

You hear her groan and get out of bed.

"Really Gail, " She says and you can hear the lopsided smirk in her voice as she slaps you hard on the butt passing you on her way out the door. "You had me at bacon."


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm glad you all seem to be enjoying this story! Thank you for all of your favorites, and follows and especially for all of your comments, PMs and tweets! I love hearing your feedback!**

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><p>This was not what you expected when you rounded the corner, not at all. God! <em>Why didn't someone warn you it could be like this?<em> There she is in all her glory, talking to some stupid Asian chick and drinking another cup of coffee. Naked. Holly is naked. _Holy shit!_ Sure, you've seen women naked before. There have been locker rooms, and saunas, and skinny dipping at the lake, and other hot tubs, of course, but none of those have ever prepared you for the full body shock you experience upon rounding the corner of the courtyard to find Holly relaxing in the hot tub after her run, basking really, in the late October morning sun, talking and laughing with another girl! It just about stopped your heart. Dead!

"Hey Gail!" She calls out warmly to you as she notices you standing there. Frozen. "This is wonderful! You should come in and join us!"

You suck in a deep breath as you remember how to breathe and force your feet to propel you forward.

"Uh… no thanks Holly. I just came down to see if you were back from your run yet. We should um, start getting ready to go soon if we are going to be there by eleven." You try not to scowl at them, and fail.

Why should you be upset? Holly has the right to talk with anyone she wants. Even if she is naked! And she has the right to do that too; to be naked that is, you mean…

"Ok, I'll get out." She sighs, and stretches, closing her eyes blissfully and letting her head fall back as her back arches, her toes point and her legs extend so she is perfectly suspended in the water for just a moment. Naked.

The sight of her magnificently laid out before you does things. You are aware of how hot it has suddenly become, and how dry your mouth is, and painfully aware of the insistent thrum of desire that blossoms in your belly. You swallow laboriously around the giant boulder, which has suddenly lodged its self in your throat, and try to act casual as she opens her eyes to smile at you once more.

_What! Are you a fucking teenage boy? Shit._

"Gail, Honey, can you please pass me my towel?" She says, pulling herself up to sit on the edge of the spa, waving a hand in the direction of her blue and white striped towel, that hangs on the back of a lounger.

_Honey. She called you Honey._

That sickeningly sweet, warm, happy feeling is back, starting to spread through your chest again. _Gross_. You saunter over to pick up the towel and then, as casually as you can, walk over to hand it to her. She uses it to dry off her face before putting her glasses back on.

"Gail this is Monica. Monica, Gail." She introduces you to the chick, who has been smugly watching your interaction.

"Hi." You say frostily to her, and turning back to Holly, "Ready?"

"See you 'round, Monica." Holly smiles way too warmly at her for your liking.

"Definitely!" Monica smiles back.

You hate her already.

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><p>The look on Holly's face as you emerge from the bathroom wearing your little gold dress, you have to admit, is priceless. She is looking good too, sitting on the bed, wearing leather pants and a starched white tux shirt with black lace cuffs. Even though you can do it yourself, you step in front of her asking her to zip up the back of it. Her fingers brushing lightly up your spine give you momentary chills all over your body. Still standing between her legs, you turn to face her. Her eyes are a darker shade of chocolate now, pupils stretched wide. Smoldering. You place you hands on her shoulders and lean in closer.<p>

"Thank you." You whisper. Your lips practically brush her ear as you press your cheek to hers. Her eyes close for just a moment before you pull away.

The wedding on the beach was lovely, even you have to admit it was. You have fulfilled your family obligations, conveying your parent's regards to Jonathan and his wife, and congratulating his daughter and her new husband on their, and your behalf as well. You can't wait for this stupid thing to be over! There are way too many people here, most of whom you don't know and the ones you do know, your parent's friends, you are carefully trying to avoid. Hiding out in an empty lifeguard shack, perched high above the party on stilts, you and Holly are sitting huddled together on the floor of this cramped space, leaning comfortably against a pile of life preservers and soft foam rescue devices. Holly has stolen a full bottle of champagne, and you are drinking ginger ale from a champagne glass. You would just about kill to be able to share that bottle with her and have a real drink right now! Your usual banter has become increasingly flirtatious, as the two of you venture into what could be called sexual history twenty questions.

"Come on Gail, how old were you really when you lost your virginity?" Holly wants to know.

"Ok, so it was three weeks before my sixteenth birthday when Steve took me to a party at his collage dorm. He was starting his senior year at the University of Toronto, and my parent's had taken off for a multi-national crime-fighting conference in New York, dumping me on him for the week. There was this really hot guy from his Criminal Justice class that ended up getting me stoned and taking me back to his room." You say, smiling humorlessly at the ocean.

"Gail Peck! Are you telling me that you smoked Marijuana? I'm shocked." Holly teases, smirking and arching her eyebrows at you.

"Like you never have!" You slap her lightly on her knee. "And besides, I was going through my rebellious teenage phase."

"And that ended when?" She laughs at you.

"Shut up!" You find yourself laughing along, and blushing. "Do you want me to tell you this stuff, or not?"

"Ok, all right!" She is trying hard to get the laughter under control, but her eyes continue to sparkle.

"So, we ended up all naked and shit on his nasty futon bed. Have you ever noticed that most guys in collage don't understand the concept of clean sheets?"

Holly hums her amused agreement.

"Anyway, it was ok, but when it was all over, I thought wow, you know, so this is what all of the fuss is about? It wasn't until later that I really understood…" You sigh. "How about you?"

"Boys or girls?" She asks and takes a swig from the bottle.

Your stupid hormones make your stomach do a little flip.

"Uh… I don't know Holly. You tell me." You roll your eyes at her.

"Ok… well… My high school boyfriend and I went on a camping trip with a bunch of our friends just before graduation. We has talked about it and decided to lose our virginity together before we both left for collage. He was so nervous! We shared a tent and it was goofy, and sweet, and fun, and we almost didn't do it because we couldn't stop giggling." She smiles at the memory, and you find yourself wishing your first time, any time really, had been like that.

"Then, in my sophomore year at the University, I had a crazy mad crush on my microbiology lab partner."

"Nerd." You give her shoulder a little shove with yours. She just takes another hit from the bottle and continues.

"One night, we had been working late on this project, trying to get it in for the early, extra credit deadline, and then we went out and had a couple of beers and some wings." She looks over and gives your knee a squeeze, "Don't look at me like that, I've been known to eat junk-food. Anyway… It was late, and snowing, and she gave me a ride back to my dorm. We were sitting in the car, talking, neither one of us wanting to leave, when she leaned over and kissed me. It just blew me away. It was like everything that I had ever been missing. And the rest, as they say, is history."

You don't know what to say to that, so you start asking her what you know are stupid straight girl questions. You could kick yourself, but you can't seem to stop your mouth from nervously getting ahead of your brain.

"What about if you want to borrow a dress or shoes or clothes? I mean, is that cool? Do you share each other's things?" You find yourself saying.

"I wouldn't share your things." She scoffs, and drinks

"What's wrong with my things?" You shoot back, feeling slightly annoyed.

"Nothing. They're just not my style." She shrugs

"What. Not enough fleece for you Holly? Not enough backpacks?" You just can't seem to help yourself from falling into a full on mean girl rant.

She rolls her head languidly in your direction and smirks indulgently at you. And then she leans in slowly _AND FUCKING KISSES YOU_! All time stands still. You kiss her back. It's a brief kiss, almost over before it begins, but the shock from it rushes through your entire body.

"You are insane," She smiles somewhat superiorly at you, "You know that. Right?" She gets up.

Wait, wait… _WHAT?_

"Wait… where are you going?" You finally manage to sputter.

She says something about going dancing as she leaves you still sitting there with your jaw on the floor, like an idiot. That's no good! Nobody leaves you sitting alone and speechless! Nobody! Not until now, that is. You get up and scramble after her.

She's not on the dance floor when you finally catch up with her, but standing alone on the stairs of the Inn's function hall looking out at the bay. She jumps and turns suddenly toward you as you quietly come up behind her and softly touch her arm. You are standing so close that you can almost feel her sudden, ragged intake of breath.

"Hey." She says quietly with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Do you want to get out of here?" You ask

She nods and takes your hand. You know you have to come clean with her about your impending motherhood. It scares you. What if she doesn't want to be with you once she knows? Now that you've kissed, what if you can't go back to being friends? But you know that you don't want to be, have never been just friends.

You walk down the street, holding hands, in silence for a while like it's the most natural thing in the world. And maybe it is, but you have never been the handholding type. Instead of turning left to go back to where you are staying, Holly leads you down a covered walkway to the right and into what you can tell is a lesbian dance bar. You are surprised to find how crowded it is for a night in mid-October, as she winds her way through the dancers and out onto a deck overlooking the harbor.

"So, officer," She says in a low sexy voice "Can I buy you a drink?"

"Um… just water for me, thanks!" You reply.

"Come on Gail, just one drink?" She pulls you into her personal space by your hands, smiling and arching her eyebrows at you in a way you find both sexy and adorable.

"I wish…" You breathe out, "But really, I can't."

"Why not?" She shoots back, "What's wrong? You're an adult, we don't have to drive anywhere, I know you're not an alcoholic, and I mean it's not like you're pregnant or something…"

And there it is. You feel your entire body flush as you gasp, cross your arms reflexively over your chest, and look away.

"Gail?" There is concern in her voice, but you can't look at her. "Gail what's wrong?"

You close your eyes and sag back against the railing of the deck wishing that the sea would rise up and swallow you whole.

Silence hangs charged and heavy in the space between you.

"Whoa Nelly! You are… aren't you…" You here her exclaim.

"What." There is no point in trying to deny it even though your heart is pounding so hard it will likely burst through your ribs at any moment.

"Pregnant. You're pregnant, aren't you." Instead of backing off she steps closer, running her hand softly up your arm. "Gail?"

You can only nod and whimper, hoping she doesn't notice the tears that are threatening behind your eyelids.

"Wow, Gail… When…? I mean, how did this happen…? She stutters

Your eyes fly open, giving her a hard, cold look, "And I thought you were a doctor."

She tilts her head and widens her eyes in a way that tells you she isn't going to take any of your bullshit right now.

"Ok, ok… I was going to tell you, I just… I don't know Holly…" You stumble over your words, trying to figure out how you are going to get out of this mess. "Can we go back to the room? Can we not talk about this here? I swear that I will tell you everything."

"Ok." She says softly, and pulls you into a hug.

You let your head drop to rest on her shoulder as you breathe her in. This isn't really how you communicate, but she feels so good. You can barely believe she hasn't run for the hills and she is still here, holding you. Her arms tighten protectively around you as hear her murmur into your hair, "It's alright, Honey. It's alright."


	6. Chapter 6

You are standing in the bathroom staring in the mirror at a girl you don't even know any more. You have no idea how long you've been here, but you figure it must have been a while, as a new playlist loads on your ipod, straight from Evanescence to Ms Mr. Your severed ponytail hangs loosely in your left hand by your side. You haven't freaked out this badly and cut your hair yourself since you were sixteen and going through your Goth faze. At least you haven't died it cherry red like you did the last time, using up all of the Kool-aid packets from your parent's kitchen and making a giant splotchy mess all over your mother's pristine white bathroom towels. _Fuck._ You know this has been a long time coming, but you were hoping to be alone when it hit. _Fuckity, fuck, fuck! _You're fucked.

The knock comes sooner than you were expecting. Of course she is worried about you. You haven't said a word since you left the Pied Piper, and then barricaded yourself in the bathroom. _Real mature Gail_. You grimace wryly at your reflection. She knocks again.

"Come on Gail, it's been over forty five minutes since you went in there. Are you ok?" Her voice sounds worried, and somewhat cautious, "Please confirm existence!"

You look in the mirror and sigh. You have no idea how you are going to explain this to Holly.

"That's it! I'm coming in!" Her head peeks around the door. "So this is happening…" she says more steadily than you expected, and steps into the room, turning the music down as she enters. You can tell she is trying to keep her face neutral, to hide her own freak out about what she might have found when she opened that door. _Way to go Gail! _

"Who cares, right? It's only hair." You try to sound nonchalant about the whole thing.

You sit on the floor holding your ponytail before you and try to explain how shedding each inch might help you get back to who you once were before everything went so wrong. Is that compassion or just plain pity you see in Holly's eyes? And then it hits you full in the chest. You reach up and touch the back of your head where your ponytail used to be.

"Oh my God! What have I done? What have I done!" You sob into your hands, and begin to hyperventilate.

You can't look at her. You know this is bad. You are on the edge of a total break down. You can't tell her about your pregnancy with out telling her about Nick. You can't talk about Nick without talking about your history together, with out telling her about being abducted by a serial killer, or about how you fucked up Traci's life by getting Jerry killed, and finally without talking about your dismissal from the Toronto Police force. Shame upon shame, with a little bit of terror and grief and a whole lot of guilt mixed in. What will she think of you then? You are sure that she won't want to have anything else to do with you once you confess your sins. Who would? Maybe she won't want to be with you now. After all, this isn't exactly the behavior of a completely sane person. Your mind is whirling at top speed, bouncing around in your head like a pinball.

"You cut off all your hair." She says matter-of-factly.

Her steady tone calms you slightly. You look up at her then. "I'm kind of freaking out. Aren't I?" You manage to whimper.

"Uh huh." She sits on the edge of the tub, reaching out to stroke your cropped hair like you're a stray cat.

"Ok, so I know you're blonde, but I never thought you'd pull a Britney." She teases.

You close your eyes and lean into her comforting touch. It anchors you.

"Come on, " She says steadily, "My friends and I used to cut each other's hair when we were poor med students with no time to get it done. Let me help you clean this up." She winks at you, "We can't have you hitting the streets tomorrow looking like a refugee from MTV in the 80s. Now, can we?"

You manage to crack a watery smile. She gets you up and sits you down in the tub to minimize the mess and goes to work. The delicate touch of her hands on your head is riveting. The two of you slip back into your easy pattern of playful banter. She's making you laugh at yourself, and somehow you don't hate it. If it had been Dov or Chris, you would have flayed them open with a swift flick of your razor sharp tongue. But Holly's gentle teasing makes you feel warm, safe, even cared for. How very weird.

You start to speak out of a need to explain, but it all comes out in a jumble of words you can only hope make some kind of sense.

"There was this guy I dated when I was younger," You begin, "His parent's had died in a car accident, and he was independent, and wild, and strong, and he had his own place where I could hide out… I thought he was the one, you know…"

"Mmm…" She nods.

"And we were together for about two years when we went to Las Vegas to be married." You look down at your severed hair you are still clutching for some reason. "And I woke up on the morning we were going to do it, and he was gone. At first I thought he had just gone out to get something, but then I realized that all his stuff was gone too."

Holly is looking at you, head tilted to one side, her eyebrows slightly knit. You take a deep breath.

"So I called Steve, and went home with my tail between my legs, and let my parents sign me up for the Police Academy, and did everything I was supposed to do, but it just wasn't good enough." You sigh again, "It never is…"

She reaches silently for your hand and gives it a little squeeze.

"I even started dating again, but I managed to somehow fuck that up too. And then one day, after no contact for just over five years, there he was, on that fucking motorcycle of his, a fucking decorated war hero and the new fucking Rookie at my division! He convinced me that we should try again, you know, unfinished business and all… and then everything went to shit."

Holly's hand moves from yours onto your knee where she starts making tiny patterns with her thumb.

"So wait," She says, her eyebrows knitting even further together, "This _is_ Nick, right?"

You swallow thickly and nod. "I am so stupid! After he left, I kept thinking he would at least call me. You know, not just disappear. I was frantic until one day I ran into his best friend who told me Nick freaked out about marrying me, hitchhiked to Vancouver and joined the Army. That he had been deployed to Afghanistan rather than spend another moment with me."

"OooKaaay…" Holly says, narrowing her eyes and tilting her head.

"On the night I took that undercover assignment, I realized I had been more honest with the perp than I had been with Nick in a long time. I thought, what the hell, you know, maybe I should stop trying to protect myself and just let him in. So I called him when I got back to the place I was staying, knowing my friend had gone to her boyfriend's house for the night. When there was a knock on the door, I didn't think twice about just opening it…" You realize you are shaking. You can't breathe. Every muscle in your body clenches, waiting for the memories to hit.

Holly slides down into the tub, reaching for you, pulling you to her. You are drowning. She is your lifeline. You sob, and gasp, fighting for light and air. She holds you, waiting.

"The door hit me so hard, it almost knocked me out. I tried to fight, but he was too big, too strong…"

You can feel Holly's arms tightening protectively around you. "Nick?" she asks, in a strained whisper.

"No. No. Ross Perrick. As it turned out, the guy we apprehended wasn't the serial killer after all. It was the cab driver."

You feel rather than hear her sharp intake of breath as she holds you tighter still.

Taking a few deep, calming breaths you continue, "When I woke up I was blindfolded, and strapped to a metal gurney, with an IV in my arm. And then Jerry found me. And he died."

You can't breathe. It all comes rushing back in waves. Clinging to her you press your face into her shoulder, hard, hoping that she will help keep your demons at bay. Finally you gasp for air and go on.

"After that, I couldn't let Nick touch me. Not just sex either. Any physical contact with anyone made my skin crawl. It's funny, you know. I fucked up Traci's life and she was the only one I could let get that close." You sigh. "And then about a month after I went back to work it happened. We were on crowd control at a football game when a fight broke out. There was so much chaos, and we were under-staffed, and everyone was having a bad day. But I was the arresting officer. I still donno what happened, but suddenly he had a gun and a hostage in our lock-up. I am so stupid!" You let the bitterness creep into your voice. " My so called friends kept taunting me, about how unfair it was that they were the ones who had to worry about their jobs, about how my family name would protect me. And so I stupidly got up and took the responsibility for the incident."

Holly pulls back and looks steadily at you with such warmth and compassion, you take a deep breath and go on.

"After the preliminary ruling came down, Nick found me at the Penny, drinking tequila by myself. We ended up having sex in the bathroom, and then in the front seat of his truck, and again when we got back to my place." You sigh and look away, "I am such a stupid girl sometimes. I thought this meant that he cared. Things were great for about a week, and then he was gone."

"What?!" Holly looks almost shocked ""What do you mean gone?"

"There was this undercover assignment that everyone wanted in on. And I guess they chose him." You shrug.

"So… Nick is the father…" Holly says slowly, trying to put the pieces of everything you said together.

"Yup." You pop the "p" at the end of the word bitterly.

"And he doesn't know…?" She tilts her head inquisitively at you, her arms still resting loosely around you.

"Nope. Just Bobby, and now you." You look back at her. You wait in silence for the other shoe to drop, for her to remove you from her lap, for her to walk away like everyone else.

"Not exactly a fairy tale." Holly says softly.

"No." You say, feeling deflated, and look away unable to hold her gaze any longer. You know what's coming, and so you brace yourself, hoping to hold back the tears until she's gone.

"And now I have no hair."

She cups your chin in her fingertips and turns your head, forcing you to look at her. She is so beautiful is all you can think. Why does everything have to be so hard?

"Still kind of beautiful though." She proclaims, lifting your chin and looking you in the eye.

"Oh really." You try to deflect, feeling exposed and shy, as the air begins to crackle with electricity.

"Mmm hummm…" She hums back. Still holding your face tenderly in her fingers, she leans in, coming to a stop merely inches from your lips.

There it is again, that energy that buzzes on your skin amplifying the butterflies in your chest as you fall in to her, like gravity. Her lips against yours feel like everything you might ever need. When she opens her mouth inviting you in, you understand for the first time in your life every stupid cliché about fireworks, and rainbows. For the first time in your life, you finally get why the poets and the songwriters go on and on about how a kiss might have the power to save you.


	7. Chapter 7

You awake in a panic. The wind has picked up, rattling the windows, sending gusts of cool, moist air swirling across the tender landscape of your bare midriff where your t-shirt has ridden up. Thunder rumbles softly in the distance as you wake, frightened and confused in this strange, dark room. You jolt upright with a gasp as lightning flashes across the sky and thunder booms closer now. You struggle to remember where you are. The dream had been so real, footsteps in the dark, his taunting words, the painful, tight tug of restraints on your wrists, the cold, cold hands forcing your thighs apart, forced insemination, and humiliation. You are sweating and breathing hard, trying not to cry out. Trying to remember, it's just a nightmare, like so many others.

"Hey, Gail?" Holly's sleepy voice murmurs next to you, "Are you ok?"

A warm hand strokes your back. You can only nod as you try to catch your bearings. You feel her scoot and sit up next to you, her hand running from your shoulder to rest comfortingly on your bare thigh. You fight for the surface of reality, and gasp for air as the events of earlier come rushing back. First there was the wedding, and then the bar, and then you freaked out and cut off all your hair. Miraculously, not only did Holly stay and listen to your disjointed ramblings about your fucked up life, she helped you clean up your mess. And even more miraculous, she wanted you.

You had been far too much of a mess to act on the growing attraction that was becoming more and more evident between the two of you. Sure, she had kissed you until you were drunk and giddy with desire, and then led you by the hand back into the suite. But when she got you to the bed, she had simply undressed you like you would a child, redressed you in a soft, plain white cotton t-shirt and tucked you in. She tried to leave, to sleep on the couch, but you would have none of that. You ended up making out with her a little bit more, before finally falling asleep wrapped in her protective arms. Something both Chris and Nick had tried, but never were able to make you feel safe enough to let down your guard.

"Hey!" She says softly again, focusing you on the here and now.

"Holly." You whisper, turning to push your face into the crook of her neck.

"Are you ok?" She repeats, concern in her voice. It breaks you a little.

"I'm sorry," You laugh softly, sardonically at yourself, "first I have a little freak out, and now I wake you up by having a nightmare." You shake your head, "You must think that I'm pathetic."

"No." She says giving your knee a little squeeze, "No, I don't.

"It's ok Holly," You reply, "I won't blame you one bit if you run as far and as fast as you can once we get back home." You try to make your voice sound light, like you don't care.

"Now why would I do that?" She asks in a low, hushed voice as she reaches out to stroke the side of your face.

The storm breaks as you do, rain battering the roof and spraying through the open window as you crash your lips hungrily into hers. Grasping her face in both hands your tongue savagely demands entrance into her wanting mouth. She moans, growling low in the back of her throat, pushing you back into the waiting pillows. Never before have you allowed things to spin this quickly out of control. You pull her on top of you, flexing your thigh between her legs as your pelvis thrusts instinctively upward seeking friction. So what if you have never been with a woman before? You want her like you have never wanted anything, leaving no room in your consciousness for anything else. Your hands franticly work at the bottom of her shirt, needing to strip from her anything that could come between her skin and yours. She sits up breathing hard, helping you to remove the offending article, and then swiftly stripping you of your own. As your torsos meet, the velvet softness of her skin rubbing intoxicatingly on yours is like nothing you have ever dreamed of. You gasp and groan as stars literally explode in your head at the contact of her breasts on yours. Fingers dig into flesh, lips tease at sensitive skin, breath comes in moans and gasps, mouths and tongues leave hot, aching trails in their wake, it's all too much, and not enough.

Holly sits up suddenly, still straddling your thigh.

"Wait… Wait…" She gasps, her hands resting lightly on your stomach.

"What's wrong?" You groan, your hands still stroking up and down her legs as she unconsciously rocks gently back and forth to your rhythm.

"Maybe we should… maybe… shit… We should stop…" She concludes breathlessly.

"Oh." You take a deep breath to steady yourself and look away, although your hands never stop their journey up and down her strong limbs. "Don't you want me?" Your voice comes out smaller, more vulnerable than you intended.

"Gail." She says in a horse whisper "Honey, look at me…"

You turn your head to look up at her above you. _Oh My_ _God! She's beautiful!_ You reach up to stroke her cheek. She leans in to your hand and then bends down to meet your lips with hers once more.

"I want you more than I can possibly tell you." She murmurs into your lips.

Her words make you bolder. You kiss her with all the heat and longing that have built up inside of you. Your hands slide down her back to grasp her hips firmly, rocking her center into you with purpose and force. The sound that escapes her lips is riveting. It makes you moan too, it makes you do it again, and again. Her whole body judders this time, fanning the inferno between you beyond reason, beyond words, beyond thought. You sneak one hand around her ass, letting your fingertips play lightly over the moist material of her boy shorts that cover her center. _She is so wet!_ You gasp, heart pounding, as her hips buck back into your hand, seeking more.

"Not fair!" She manages to husk, before kissing you hard and rocking into you again.

Snaking her own hand between you, she cups you lightly over the thin material of your thong. Your legs spread wider with a mind of their own.

"Fuck!" You breathe out.

"You like that?" She teases.

You can only whimper and nod. Your fingers find the edge of her waistband and dig in, peeling cloth from flesh.

"Gail…" She whispers, reaching up suddenly to catch your wrists. Her eyes glitter darkly in the dim room, seeking yours. You know there is no turning back. You know, there never was.

You lye together in a sweet, sated tangle of limp limbs and damp sheets, and skin still touching skin. This is all so very new, precious, fragile. In the past you have always needed space after intimacy, getting away from whomever you just had sex with as quickly as possible, grateful for your autonomy, overcome by the need to be breathing your own air again. This is different. You shiver and snuggle closer as the storm outside continues, lightning briefly illuminating her beautiful, peaceful face. You know she's not asleep, her fingertips still tracing mindless patterns on your bare stomach.

"I should get up and close the window." You sigh, rolling over to face her, and bringing the covers up with you.

"Mmmm…" She concedes sleepily, making no move to release you from her embrace. She kisses your forehead and pulls you in tighter. Miniscule droplets of cold prickle across the exposed skin of your back as the wind picks up again.

"Don't go." She fluffs the duvet higher around you creating a cozy, private nest.

"I never want to move again." You murmur into her neck as peaceful, dreamless sleep finally comes to claim you.


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks for all of your great response to this story! I love all of the favorites, and follows, and especially all of your comments, PMs, and tweets! Here is the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it!**

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><p>Holly is perched on a tall bar stool, knees pulled up to her chin, hands wrapped around a steaming cup of tea, staring out the sliding glass doors of the common room into the courtyard. The rain that began last night has continued, softer than before, turning the whole world a sleepy, smoky grey. You woke up alone in its defuse, soft light, rain beating a quiet rhythm in the background of your consciousness, Holly's absence eating at the edges of your mind. Even though you are expecting her to distance herself from you, you can't seem to keep the taint of melancholy from seeping into your bones. You hate it that you feel so insecure. You hate yourself for letting her into your very heart and soul, and you don't know what you're going to do if she doesn't want to know you anymore. You stretch and sigh, breathing in the moist, cool, salt air from the comfort and warmth of the cave you've created out of the covers of the bed. Bittersweet memories of last night inundate your senses. You reach for the nearest articles of clothing you can find to go off in search of her, and coffee, ending up in your old, navy blue Toronto Police Academy sweats and her light blue hoodie. Now that you've found her, you pause, unsure of what to do next. Even without the sex, you know last night was a lot to take in. You know it would be wrong of you to assume anything, so you try to ignore the growing tightness in your chest and the heaviness behind your eyes. You walk up behind her, your bare feet silent against the worn carpets and smooth wood floors of the inn.<p>

"Holly, hey…" You say softly around the lump in your throat as you move in the direction of the breakfast bar, and coffee.

"Gail!" She jumps a little and turns to smile at you with such warmth it makes your breath hitch. You don't expect it.

"Hey." You repeat tentatively.

"You said that already." She cocks her head indulgently at you.

"Oh. I knew it sounded familiar…" Is all you can manage.

"You must have some mad, ninja skills there! You were so quiet I didn't hear you come in. Do you always do this? Sneak up on people, I mean?" She laughs at you softly.

You stand awkwardly in the middle of the room. "Uh, I donno… I guess so... Maybe?" you sputter. You are rarely at a loss for words, but her absence from your room this morning has put you off, made you shy and wary.

You can only watch as she puts down her mug, unfolds herself from her perch, and glides across the room in your direction, until she is standing right in front of you.

"Hi." She whispers.

Tea warmed hands caress your cheeks, steadying you before she leans in to give you a soft, slow kiss that melts your very bones with its simple sincerity. When it's over, she doesn't pull away but leans in, her forehead against yours, sigh-humming contentedly as your hands reflexively comes to rest on her hips.

"Hi." You whisper back, once you've found your voice.

"Honey, what's wrong?" She inquires bringing her arms around you and pulling you closer.

You feel kind of foolish right now for expecting the worst.

"You were gone when I woke up." You admit in a barely audible voice, closing your eyes against the helplessness forming in your chest. "And I thought… I thought…"

"You thought…?" Her arms tighten around you incrementally.

"Well… you know…" Your stupid voice cracks as you say this.

"No, Gail, I really don't." She sounds slightly annoyed.

You look up at her sharply now. "I'm not exactly girlfriend material." You shoot back.

You watch her jaw clench and her brow furrow at that. Her apparent anger is almost enough to make you regret your choice to echo Nick's harsh words back at her. Almost. You know your stare has become icy, challenging. You don't really want to push her away, but you just can't seem to help yourself. Her eyes are dark and unreadable. You can't take it anymore, so you try to extract yourself from her grip. _Damn! She's stronger than you thought!_ You look away.

"Gail…" Her voice is gentle, softer than you expected, "Gail, look at me!"

You shake your head. You can't.

"Gail," You can feel her crouching, pulling away, trying to catch your eye, "Whoever told you that is an idiot, and an asshole!"

You look up at her then. You have never heard her speak so harshly about anyone. She is giving you that no bullshit look over the top of her glasses again, the one that makes you give in to her, the one that makes you believe. You let out the shaky breath you didn't know you'd been holding.

"Oh really." You breathe out.

"Yeah. Really." She replies earnestly. "Look… come here!"

She takes you by the elbow and guides you back to your room. It's the kind of move you resent when guys do it, but with her it simply startles you as you submit to being led. As the door closes, you find yourself being drawn back into her arms, her lips crashing hungrily into yours. The ridiculously wanting moan that bubbles up from your very core and escapes as her tongue finds yours surprises you. It would normally embarrass you, how much you are giving yourself away, how obvious it is that you are completely turned on by her, how quickly she just gets to you, but right now you don't care. It is almost a relief as the back of your knees hit the edge of the bed, unsure how much longer your trembling legs will be able to support you. Never have you allowed anyone to have this effect on you, never. You fall back onto the bed, propping yourself up on your elbows to see the naked longing you feel for her reflected back in her eyes as she looks at you. It's electric. She bends down, placing a knee between your legs as she half crawls onto the bed to kiss you once more. Your hands find the impossibly silky, warm expanse of exposed skin between the top of her yoga pants and the bottom of her cropped Maple Leafs jersey. Your fingertips run urgently up her ribs and around her shoulders as she begins to suck on the pulse point of your throat, her finger working the zipper of her stolen hoodie. As she begins to leave a trail of searing, dirty, open mouthed kisses down your exposed torso, your mind catches up with you just as your body begins to arch into her, humming with pleasure.

_Shit._

"Wait… wait… Oh my God, wait…" You gasp, completely out of breath, every inch of your skin on fire for her touch.

In an instant, gone is the wanton succubus hell bent on driving you wild, replaced by a look of genuine care and concern as she slides up to cradle you in one arm and gently stroke your face with her free hand. It's a move so tender, it completely slays you.

"What's wrong, baby?" Her fingertips rest gently on your forehead as you fall into the depths of her eyes.

_She called you baby!_

The intensity of emotion you find there takes your breath away. It forces you to answer her without your usual line of defensive snark.

"I just… you just…" You stutter and take a deep breath, "When you were gone this morning I was scared that it was all too much, you know?" You finally admit, owing her this much. "I know it's all a lot to take in, you know, me pregnant and all…"

"Gail…" She says softly, kissing you on the forehead

"I mean, I would get it if you didn't want to get involved any deeper." You sigh and look away.

"It's a little late for that, don't you think?" She says with a warm smile.

"Really?" You feel your eyes begin to tear up.

_Stupid emotional hormones._

"Really." She leans in to kiss you slowly.

It's the kind of kiss that begins with full, soft lips sucking gently at yours, and builds with intensity as she languidly licks at the corners of your mouth leaving you breathless. It's the kind of kiss that makes the world melt away and everything begin to swim and float. She strokes your body softly in rhythm with her tongue against yours making every nerve ending come alive in the best possible way. It's the kind of kiss you once would have made fun of, until now when it annihilates everything in your head, making your mind go completely blank. You cling to her and encourage her shirt up over her head and off, needing more contact with her skin. As the two of you begin to rock and slide against each other you tug at the top of her yoga pants, wanting them gone. She complies by getting up and removing them and then moving to pull your sweats off of you as well. You slide you hand up her thigh and between her legs as she crawls back on top of you. The boldness of your actions surprises you both, but you need her, you need this. She is so incredibly wet, and unapologetically wanting, it sends a jolt of electricity straight through you. She stops, suspended above you on all fours with a gasp and a moan as your fingers explore her. Her eyes are filled with something warm, deep, and trusting. You try not to think too much about, to hope.

"Fuck! Gail…" She breathes out and then moans low in her throat.

You repeat the action, willing to do anything to have her make that sound again. And she does, catching her lower lip between her teeth, her legs spreading wider, rocking her center back into your hand. You have never, with any of your other lovers, experienced anything so hypnotic. She leans her head down to capture one of your nipples in her mouth, and you freeze as a jolt of pure ecstasy explodes from the contact. She continues to make her way up your body to rest by your side, your hand still stroking between her legs. Her eyes burn into yours, searching, as she reaches for you too. Her fingers working their magic on you, and she is all you know.

"Oh my God!" You breathe out sharply.

Holding you close, foreheads touching, you both gasp at the same air. Your hips buck and strain in unison with hers. Sex has never been like this. You force yourself to hold her gaze, not to look away.

"You are so beautiful." She pants, "You've got me so close, Gail, so close..."

Her admission rocks you, nearly pushing you over the edge right then and there. You whimper and kiss her with everything you have. She breathes out as you breathe in, holding you impossibly closer, pushing her fingers inside of you now. You mimic her actions, your fingers sliding easily into her as well.

"Oh… oh my… oh Gail… I'm… I'm…" Her eyes go wide, her mouth goes slack, her body trembles and then goes ridged as the first wave of her orgasm thunders through her pulling you tumbling over the edge with her. Your heart stops, your breath stops, your world implodes. In the light of day, it has to be the most beautiful, intensely intimate moment you have ever shared with anyone. It makes all the feelings for her that you have been carefully holding swell and overflow from your chest and your eyes.

_Oh my God, you're screwed_.

* * *

><p>Holly is completely wrapped around you, legs entangled with yours, her body pressed tightly against your back as you open your eyes, still blissfully boneless in her embrace. You shift and stir not wanting to disturb her yet. It's been a long time since someone's held you like this, if ever. It's something you didn't know you were missing, until now. You do know it's getting late and you need to get up, get going, and return home to your daily life, but you are reluctant to leave the bubble the two of you have created. She rolls onto her back with a full body stretch, and then pulls you along with her.<p>

"Hi." She smiles into your eyes as you come to rest on her sternum.

"Hi." You smile back.

"You are so beautiful." She sighs, reaching out to brush your bangs from your eyes.

"Oh, really." You say softly, "You're kind of beautiful yourself."

She kisses you softly, still smiling into your lips.

"So tell me," She cocks her head at you, "Just how pregnant are you?"

"Uh… almost fourteen weeks, and counting…" You reply, somewhat startled by the bluntness of her question.

"And Nick…? What's up with you and Nick?" Her tone is somewhat wary, but her eyes never lose their warmth.

You sigh. You know if the tables were turned you would be cautious too.

"Nick and I have a long and fucked up history." You begin, "and it's a long story, but it's over now…" You promise.

"Ok, I'm listening." She responds quietly.

You let out a short, bitter laugh and continue, "I always do the dumbest things when I drink too much tequila! I know I told you some of this. After I was abducted, I couldn't let anyone touch me. Not Nick, not anyone. I know he was concerned about me, but I just pushed him away. "

You feel her sharp intake of breath as her arm tightens protectively around your waist. She waits, silently for you to continue. You know you haven't really talked to her about Perrick, or Jerry, or Nick for that matter, except in passing, and incoherently at best. You push on anyway.

"We were on crowd control duty at an exhibition hockey game. A fight broke out and I was the arresting officer. Everybody was distracted by their own shit, and having a bad day even before things got completely chaotic and out of control. The guy I arrested was compliant, and came peacefully, but I didn't have time to search him thoroughly before I had to assist my partner, who was getting the crap beaten out of him by a crazy drunk three times his size." You sigh deeply and close your eyes at the memory; " I guess nobody else searched him either before putting him in a cell with another prisoner. Because the next thing we knew, he had a gun and a hostage."

You can feel Holly breathing and her eyes on you, but she still doesn't say a word.

"I know I could have done better, I take responsibility for that, but no one else did their best either." You open your eyes and take a deep breath, "And then I did something really, really stupid. Because I'm a Peck, because my so called friends let me know that they were certain the privileges my family's position would protect me, I went back and took the blame for it all."

"Oh, Gail…" She murmurs sympathetically, pressing her lips softly into your hairline. It gives you the courage to go on.

"You know how I said drinking tequila makes me do really stupid things?" You roll your eyes, "Well, after the investigation when there was talk of my being brought up on charges and losing my badge, Nick found me drinking tequila by myself at the Penny, our unit's cop bar. I was drunk, and feeling sorry for myself. Things were weird and we hadn't had sex since the night before I was abducted, but I dragged him off into the ladies room where I practically raped him, because… because… I needed…" You stutter to a halt, unsure of how Holly will take this admission.

"Because you wanted to take comfort in the physical intimacy you shared with him." Holly concludes for you.

"Eeew! Uh, yeah… you make it sound so touchy-feely though…" You make a sour face at her, and she laughs at you in-spite of herself.

"I'm sorry…" She says. You can tell she's struggling to wipe the amused smirk from her face.

"No, no, it's ok…" You shrug and shake your head, "It doesn't matter anyway. The next morning he was gone, without saying goodbye. Again. And I ended up expecting." You shrug again.

"Oh." She replies softly

"Yeah, oh." You echo back at her.

You shift and sit up, dangling your legs over the edge of the bed, your back to her now. "So, you see… like I said, it's a lot… and I would understand if you didn't want to deal with it… But I want you to know that you are not a rebound, or an experiment, or someone I'm just using to make myself feel better…" Your voice is barely audible as you continue, unwittingly unable to stop yourself, "I love you. I know it's too soon. And it's ok if you don't, don't feel the same... I just thought you should know..." Your shoulders sag with defeat.

Holly's hand closes firmly over your wrist, stopping you from simply getting up. She's looking at you with calm, warm eyes you can barely credit as you turn to face her.

"Gail..." She says quietly. "You and your shitty past, and the fact that you are pregnant, and all of your insecurities, may be a lot to deal with, but there is only one small problem with all of this."

"What's that?" You brace yourself for her answer, holding back the tears you refuse to allow to fall.

"You see, the problem is, I'm afraid I've already fallen for you, and you won't be getting rid of me that easily." She smiles that fucking ridiculously affectionate lopsided smile of hers at you.

"Oh really." You try to deadpan back, but you can't contain your smile or the wild beating of your heart.

"Yeah. Really." The grip on your arm tightens.

"All right then." Is all you can say before she pulls you back in, and silences you with a kiss.


	9. Chapter 9

It's a week before Halloween, and this has got to be the perfect fall day, you conclude! It's warm, and sunny with just few clouds in the sky. The air holds that tang of falling leaves and a crispness that makes all of the colors seem brighter even in the city, and there are zombies everywhere! There are student zombies with backpacks lurching their way down the street; there are zombie business men and women in tattered suits, along with lumber jack zombies carrying gory axes and chainsaws; there are sexy nurse, and French maid, and Candy Striper zombies stumbling out of the subway; and there are even zombies in Lederhosen dragging what looks like the bloody remains of an Oompah Band behind them.

_There are days that you just fucking love your job!_

Bobby is leaning casually on the Harley Davidson Police Special he is riding, smugly eating an apple as he watches you directing traffic from your bike around the zombie hoards. You and Bobby have been assigned to be the motorcycle escort for the fifth annual Cambridge Zombie Walk and Pub Crawl, a benefit to raise money for children's cancer research. Each registered participant has a zombie fun pack containing food and drink tickets from participating bars, clubs, and restaurants, as well as a zombie map, and an ID with their name, allergies, and emergency contact information all worn in a torn and blood spattered lanyard pouch around their neck. The event began at noon in front of the MIT Student Center and lurched its way up Mass Ave, to end in Harvard Square in front of the Holyoke Center. Later, your only job will be insuring that only registered zombies gain access to the large beer garden that is set up in the courtyard next to the Au Bon Pain, where there will be local food, beer and wine tastings, and a special outdoor back to back screening of Shawn of the Dead and the 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead after the sun goes down. You know that Bobby fought hard to get this plumb assignment, and you can't quite believe your good fortune. The only thing that would make you happier is if a certain forensic pathologist could meet you here after work, but she texted you earlier, apologizing for being unavailable, swamped at work with end of the quarter budget reporting, due on November first. You have already sent both her and Traci pictures of you surrounded by the walking dead.

You swap places with Bobby as your phone chimes at you.

Traci: Leo says he loves your Zombie police force picture!

Someone took a group shot of you and Bobby with about half a dozen Zombie Police Officers mugging for the camera by your bikes, and you had them take one on your phone too`.

Prettier Peck: You can tell him we want to eat his brains!

Traci: Gail!

Prettier Peck: Aw, come on!

Traci: He wants to know if you get to ride on that Harley all the time. He thinks that, and zombies are the coolest thing ever!

Prettier Peck: I wish! But no. It's just for this special assignment

Traci: I didn't know you knew how to ride a motorcycle

Prettier Peck: I guess I have Nick to thank for something

Traci: When did he teach you that?

Prettier Peck: When we were together the first time. You can ask Steve about my Mother's reaction.

Traci: I take it she wasn't a fan

Prettier Peck: You, Detective Nash, have just won the understatement of the year award!

"Hey Peck!" Bobby is trying to get your attention, "We just got a call! Let's go!"

"I thought we were here all day with no other duties." You answer, slightly confused.

"This takes precedence, and we're the closest! Come on!" He mounts his bike, flipping on the lights and siren.

Prettier Peck: Duty Calls! GTG

Traci: OK but I will skype you later from the Penny! I'm dying to hear about your weekend!

Prettier Peck: Ok.

You get on your bike and follow him through the square and down Oxford Street where you turn into a maze of industrial ally ways behind the Harvard University Science labs. A Zombie punk rocker lies slumped on one of the loading docks, obviously, in reality, dead. From where you are it is hard to tell where the fake gore ends and his real injuries begin.

Bobby is speaking with one of the Cambridge City cops you haven't met yet. He's about Bobby's age with receding reddish blonde hair and sharp blue eyes, and freckles that give him a perpetual boyish appearance.

"Donovan Kent, of the Cambridge City Police, Gail Peck." Bobby makes the introduction.

"This is a Harvard thing. Why are we here?" You demand to know.

"That would be _Sergeant_ Kent to you, Bobby!" The officer nudges Bobby with his elbow, showing off his stripes. "And the pleasure is all mine." He extends a hand to you, smiling.

"Sergeant." You look down at his proffered hand, making no move to shake it.

"Donny." Bobby smirks.

"Donovan, please." He flashes an almost predatory, flirtatious smile your way.

"Well Donovan," You loop your thumbs in your belt, rocking back on your heels, and licking your lips with a super fake smile, "Do you want to tell me why Bobby and I are here?"

Bobby coughs and looks away to try to cover up his reaction.

"Our boy over there has been identified as MIT student, Eric Hubbard, 21 years old, majoring in artificial intelligence." Sergeant Kent continues, stepping directly in front of Bobby, "So we are bringing you on the scene as a courtesy to MIT, your internal investigation, and his family."

"Oh." You say, slightly distracted as you watch the big, black SUV from the Coroner's Office pull into the dock where you are gathered, behind the fire engine the waiting ambulance.

Your eyes follow Holly and her assistant you vaguely know as Rodney, as they get out of the SUV and go to examine the body.

Next to you Kent sighs, "I should go find out what the ME's team has to say about this one."

"Ok," Bobby says coming to stand beside him, "Let's do it!"

You move forward as a group, careful to give the forensics team space to work. You carefully keep your face neutral as your heart skips a beat when Holly looks up and smiles in your direction. Her eyebrows raise slightly with annoyance as Sgt. Kent steps directly into her light, casting a shadow on the body before her. _This should be interesting._

"Good afternoon, Dr. Stewart, what can you tell us about what happened to this guy?" Kent asks, standing far too close to Holly for your liking.

She continues looking up at him from where she is crouched next to the body, her smile remains, but her voice and her eyes are cold.

"I can't tell you much until I get him on my table, Officer Kent," She replies

"I'm sure someone with your extensive knowledge and expertise should be able to give us something." He interrupts, stepping into what you would consider her personal space, smirking at her.

You feel your color begin to rise, creeping up your neck, making the tips of your ears burn. If looks could kill he would have died a thousand painful deaths by now. Bobby is watching intently his face unreadable to most people, but the sparkle you see in his eye gives him away.

"If I were to guess, Officer Kent, I would say that he fell from some height, like maybe off the roof or out an upper floor window." She says, standing stiffly to face him.

"I hate jumpers." He grumbles.

"I think it's too early to assume anything." Holly purses her lips with annoyance, "And have some respect Donny, this is a human being we're talking about here!" She snaps, turning on her heel to go.

"Aw, come off it Holly…" He whines at her, in a way far too familiar for your liking.

"Can I send Officer Peck along to the morgue?" Bobby interrupts whatever interaction was about to happen.

"Yes, yes that would be fine." Holly replies quickly, turning to smile at you, "Thank you."

"Great! I'll send her by once we're done canvassing the building." Bobby replies cheerfully.

She nods briefly at him and goes back to where Rodney is examining the body.

* * *

><p>Holly is leaning over the body on her table, still creepily in his zombie make-up, with an illuminated magnifying glass in one hand and a pair of tweezers in the other. You lean quietly, almost shyly, in the doorway waiting for her to notice you. It's been almost a week since she dropped you off after the wedding on the Cape, and you are careful to keep the fragile, warm glow you are feeling at being in her presence tamped down to a dull ache, just in case. You are, in fact, really happy to see her! You have texted, and spoken to her on the phone several times a day since your return, but bad timing and scheduling restraints have kept you apart, until now. The butterflies that began to fill your chest on your ride over have turned into a flock of birds that suddenly take flight as she notices you standing there and smiles at you.<p>

"So, " You say pushing yourself off the door jam with a shrug of your shoulder, "what are you looking at?"

"Whatever happened, this young man was in some kind of a fight. See here!" She motions to a box of blue gloves as she turns excitedly back to the body, "The make up on the side of his neck has these deep scratch marks and there is deep bruising on his Trapezius muscle on the left side. I'm going to send him down to ex-ray to see if there is any damage to his occipital bone through his lower thoracic vertebrae…"

"In English." You scowl at her.

She smirks at you. "I want to see if he was hit with a blunt object and had his neck broken before his fall. Once we remove his make up, I think we will find bruising on his face as well."

"Well why didn't you say so." You smirk back at her, before pulling your phone from your pocket to call Bobby.

Rodney and another lab tech you don't know arrive to take the body to ex-ray just as you are finishing your call. As they leave, you find Holly looking expectantly at you. You feel the color begin to rise in your face as she takes a step in your direction.

"Hey." She says softly reaching for your hands.

"Hey." You reply, feeling the residual tension from not seeing her drain from your body as she pulls you into her arms.

"It's nice to see you." She breathes out with a soft smile, leaning her forehead into yours.

"It's nice to see you too!" You smile back at her and close the distance between you with a kiss that lingers just a moment longer than it should to be entirely chaste.

As you pull back, you take a moment to simply look at her. _God she's beautiful_!

The phone on her desk rings, and you are rudely returned to reality. You can tell by the way her body stiffens and the tone of her voice that she finds whoever she is speaking with frustrating.

"And that was the lovely _Sergeant_ Kent, wanting to know if we were done here yet." She says with a slight scowl and a shake of her head.

"Holly, what is with you and that guy?" Your heart speeds up a little as you ask this. _Really?! Surely you can't be jealous! _But you find that you are.

"He is such an infuriating, womanizing, prick!" Her head snaps around to look sharply at you.

You raise your eyebrows questioningly at her, and wait. She sighs, and sags a little.

"When I first took this job, I didn't know anybody here. And I made the mistake of having dinner with Donny a couple of times when we were both working late on the same string of rape/murder cases." She shrugs.

"You dated that asshole?" You know you sound as stunned as you feel.

"Oh, I wouldn't call it dating." She gives you a wry look, "I mean, I'm a lesbian, he's married with two beautiful little girls I might add…"

"Oh my God! You slept with him, didn't you." You take a step back as the shock hits you in the middle of your chest. You don't know why you care. It's not like you even knew her then.

"No, no…" She laughs at you, "He wishes!"

"So tell me…" You cross your arms protectively over your chest.

"So… we went out to dinner a couple of times, and it was nice to have someone to actually talk to outside of work." She smiles, shaking her head ruefully, "And I was enjoying getting to know a friend when he made a serious pass at me after our third dinner out."

"So he didn't, does he not know, you know, about you…?" You ask, unsure.

"I guess Donny is just one of those guys who thinks that being a lesbian means you just haven't met the right guy yet. Not to mention he has a _wife_!" She scoffs and shrugs, "Ever since then it's been, well, awkward."

"Oh." You chew on your lower lip, letting it all sink in.

"Anyway, the lab won't be done with cleaning up the victim's make up, running the tox screen and doing MRI I ordered for hours." She changes the subject, "Want to get outta here?"

"Duh!" You grin at her. "If we hurry, we should be able to catch the beginning of Night of the Living Dead!"


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry it's taken me so long to update! Thanks for all of the favorites, follows, comments, PMs, and tweets! And Thanks to everyone who reblogged this on Tumblr! This chapter is mostly fluff. I hope you enjoy it!**

"Hey Kid!" Bobby calls to you as you lean up against the hood of your cruiser, "Pickles and hot sauce? It's the best, you know!"

"Uh sure, whatever you say, Bobby." You absently look down Mass Ave toward HQ as Bobby completes your Falafel order from the food truck that is always parked in front of the MIT main building.

You and Bobby have a friendly lunch war going on about where you can get the best falafel, and the best shwarma rollups in the city. You have both agreed that you will need to do a whole lot of research to be sure. You smile. Today he's buying. There is a frigid bite in the air this morning that has previously been missing and you could use something hot in your stomach right about now. You shift and wish for the tacky fake fur collar of your old uniform jacket as you wait for your lunch. Actually, what you really need right now is a nap. _Pathetic!_ Although you hate to admit it, ever since your morning sickness subsided, exhaustion has been running you into the ground. _You hate every single woman who seems to glow their way through pregnancy and talks about how fucking thrilling it is!_ And you hate that even though she is a thousand miles away, and still not really speaking to you, you can still hear your mother's voice in your head berating you for showing any signs of weakness. You hate it that you are sure she would tell you Peck women are never exhausted, or overly emotional, and if they do suffer from morning sickness or swollen ankles, or the like, that they never succumb to allowing it to effect their performance or outward appearance. You really wish you could talk to Traci about this, but that would mean telling her about your condition, and then your little secret would be out. You can't even begin to think about how your parents will react when they find out you screwed up again, but you know it won't be pretty! You are fairly sure they will insist on you coming home, which is, of course, the very last thing you intend to do right now.

Fortunately for you, at seventeen weeks, you still haven't really begun to show yet. Sure, you've gained about eight pounds, and two pants sizes, but most people have yet to notice. You blush as you recall Holly walking up behind you as you got out of the shower this morning and tenderly running her hands over the gentle swell beginning to form in your belly while kissing the back of your neck. You close your eyes and allow yourself to enjoy the memory for just a moment.

"Yo! Peck!" Bobby bumps you with his shoulder, waking you from your reverie. He hands you your sandwich. "I said Cambridge PD called, there has been a development in the Hubbard case."

"And?" You glare at him as you take a bite of falafel.

_Delicious!_

"And you're the one with the keys. So… unless you want me to drive…" He answers.

"That's ok, Bobby, I'll drive." You start to move toward the car door, "We're supposed to be making the streets of Cambridge a safer place, remember?" You give him your best ironic smile.

He just grunts at you as he climbs into the passenger side of the car.

"So, uh, Katherine wanted to be sure that I asked you about what you're doing for Thanksgiving and the holidays." Bobby begins in between bites of his sandwich.

"I donno." You shrug, "I kinda assumed I'd be working."

"Even if you are," He continues, with a shrug and a quick smirk, "She wants you to stop by. Have a meal with us. Ya know?"

"Oh. Ok. I'll think about it." You reply.

You have only met Bobby's wife twice, and she has always made a bit of a fuss over you. It's weird, but you like her. She seems so sweet, but you can tell that she isn't someone to be taken lightly. In fact, you're pretty sure that for all of her warmth, she has a core of pure steel.

"She wants you to know that you should bring your friend Holly with you too, if you want." Bobby says.

You feel your heart stop for just a second, and try not to react, but you feel the heat rising up from your collar, into your ears._ Damn pale skin!_ You see him smiling smugly at you out of the corner of your eye.

"She seems to make you happy. It's nice. Katherine says she wants to meet her." He continues guilelessly.

"Ok." You nervously lick your lips, "I'll ask her."

"Alright then." He looks way too fucking smug. "I'll let Katherine know."

You roll your eyes at him. You and Holly have been hanging out for just about eight weeks, and officially dating, or something, for almost half of that time. You haven't really told anyone but Traci about her, yet. It isn't that you are ashamed of being with a woman or freaked out about what anyone will think, Holly is awesome! And you know that! Heck, your friends and family will probably like her better than they like you! It's just that this relationship is so new, so different, and so much more serious than any other relationship you have ever had, you want to keep it close, to protect it before you begin sharing it with the world. And then there is that whole bit about how they will want to meet her, and then you would probably have to explain everything else. _Nope. Not anytime soon!_

You pull into a parking spot right in front of the Cambridge Police Station entrance on Sixth Ave. and turn off your car. Bobby makes no move to get out, continuing to eat his lunch in a relaxed manner and licking the sauce from his fingers.

"What?!" Bobby cocks an eyebrow at you, "I'm gonna finish my lunch before we go inside. Cuz I ain't sharin' it with Donny!" He grins wickedly.

You laugh and relax, taking a minute to eat in companionable silence. As you enter the station Sergeant Kent is waiting for you, nervously pacing back and forth in the front hallway.

"It took the two of you long enough." He grunts at you as a greeting before taking off in the direction of his office at a fast pace.

You glance at Bobby who merely shrugs at you and begins to walk. You follow them into an office where there is a war room laid out on this case. There are maps, and schedules, and photos of the kid, and of his friends and housemates. Holly was right, he received a blunt force trauma to the back and left side of his neck before falling from the roof of the Harvard Science labs building.

"Ok, we're here Donny, what's going on?" Bobby begins.

Kent whirls around to fix you with what you can only assume to be his "hard cop stare". Having grown up with Elaine Peck, you are hardly impressed.

"Before I begin, I just want to make sure we are all on the same page." He looks you up and down in a way you are sure would make any rookie crap their pants.

_Good thing you're not one._ You wait, trying not to look as board and annoyed as you feel, and failing.

"Homeland security is all over this case, and the kid's gazillionare parents had lunch with the Governor two days ago, so I just need to make sure you two won't screw it up." He glares harder at you.

You can feel Bobby folding his arms and shifting impatiently next to you.

"Mr. Hubbard and his roommate, Jonathan Holt, were working on a video game involving real time combat simulation. We will be interviewing him, but we need you to track down his class schedule, and anyone else he might have spent time with. Any questions?"

"Just one." You say blithely, "Are you gonna eat that?"

You point to a bag of Mexican cheese flavored chips on his desk. You feel Bobby repress a snicker.

_"What?!"_ Kent snaps at you.

"Cuz you know, if you're not…" You whisk it from his desk and crack it open, popping a chip into your mouth. Chewing loudly, you lazily lean forward and pluck the folder Sergeant Kent is holding from his hands. "Thanks for the chips, Donny!"

You execute a perfect Elaine Peck smile, turn on your heel and stride from his office in the direction of your car. Bobby catches up with you as you are standing on the steps overlooking the street.

"Chip?" You tilt the bag at him with a grin.

"Don't mind if I do." He plucks a chip from the bag with a laugh. "How did you get to be so dangerous?"

"I learned from the best." You shrug with a smirk. "Shall we?"

You hand the case file folder to Bobby and fish for your car keys.

* * *

><p>You hear your door rattle and the sounds of Holly coming into your apartment, as you are vegging out on your couch after a grueling day of chasing down leads. You weren't expecting her, but you're glad she's here. The re-run of NCIS that you aren't really watching, goes mindlessly on as you hear her rummaging in your kitchen. Your stomach growls, but you don't have the energy to get up and do anything about it. Finally, the noise in your kitchen behind you stops, and you hear her quietly pad in your direction. You tilt your head up expectantly, and sure enough, warm lips graze your forehead before she makes her way around to join you on the couch.<p>

"Hey beautiful!" She sighs softly as she comes to rest beside you.

You blush and look at your hands. Nobody has ever made you feel this way. When she calls you beautiful or looks at you with such open adoration it makes you strangely bashful.

"Hey." Your lips turn up in a tiny smile as you look at her sideways.

Her smile gets bigger. She reaches out to cup your chin, forcing you to look at her as she leans in to kiss you. You melt into her lips, the tension of the day draining from you as her body presses closer. What began soft and slow, quickly picks up speed as hands and tongues explore the ever-increasing expanse of skin that is quickly becoming exposed. Your hips roll into hers in time with your kisses, pulling her on top of you as you both gasp for air. Her glasses get discarded along with her shirt. Your empty stomach chooses to protest with a loud squirk, just as you impatiently fumble with the clasp of her bra. She laughs softly into your mouth

"Gail!" She sits up suddenly, smirking breathlessly at you, "We should either take this into the bedroom, or get up and get something to eat."

Your stomach rumbles embarrassingly again.

"Ok, I think that's our answer! This, " She eyes you up and down with a wolfish grin, "Will keep!"

_"Holly!"_ You whine at her, giving her your most pathetic, pleading, puppy dog pout.

"Nope!" She laughs, jumping off the couch and tugging at your hands, "Not gonna happen!"

"_But baby…_" You whine again, using a pet name this time to try to get your way.

"I know _I'm_ hungry, so I can't imagine what that raging beast you call your stomach must be feeling right now!" She teases, "I know that there is either Chinese food or a burger out there somewhere with your name on it! Now come on! Move!"

She tugs at your hands.

"If you really loved me, you would call that place and have pizza slipped under the door." You continue to pout, unsuccessfully.

"No." She smiles at you with raised eyebrows. "If we have pizza take out for the third time this week, I'm going to make you run an extra five miles with me in the morning!"

"You wouldn't do that to me in my condition!" You try to sound indignant, but you can tell by the look on her face that you aren't quite pulling it off.

"What condition is that? Lazy?" She scoffs. "You know you are going to have to change your terrible eating habits when the baby is born. Better to start now!" She pokes playfully at you. "And, for somebody who likes to eat as much as you do, your kitchen is a wasteland! I could be cooking for you right now if we were at mine. Leftover Pad Thai from God knows when, half a jug of milk, three lemons, and a six pack of my favorite beer does not dinner make!"

She rattles off the meager contents of your refrigerator, much to your chagrin.

"Fine!" You grumble, and glare at her, finally getting up, "But you're paying!"

She laughs as she buttons her shirt and nudges your legs with her toes, "Come on Lazy bones! Let's go!"

* * *

><p>You are lying on your back in bed, staring into the darkness at the ceiling fan rotating slowly, in the night. Light from the city leaks in through the shades and the building hums with the white noise of whatever large apartment buildings such as this make at night, of temperature control systems, and elevators, and plumbing, and so many people going about their lives in one vertical tight space. Holly snuggles closer, pressing her nose into your neck.<p>

"Penny for your thoughts?" Holly whispers.

"What?" You thought she was asleep.

"What are you thinking?" She mumbles into your skin with a sigh.

"I donno. Nothing." You reply softly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to keep you up."

"You're not really. I just noticed you're still awake." She reaches up, tracing your cheek with her hand.

"Bobby's wife wants to know what I'm doing for their Thanksgiving and for the holidays." You tell her.

You feel your heart beating loudly in the silence that follows. You don't know why you're so nervous, except talking about doing something for the holidays with Holly makes everything suddenly more real somehow.

"Ok…" She prompts you. You take a deep breath. You haven't talked much about the nature of your relationship after your admission of love on the Cape. You know that things have been progressing, but you don't want to push, to accidently screw things up.

After a minute you continue, "She wants you to come too."

"Oh." She says quietly, "What did you tell him?"

"I told him I would ask you." You admit. "So… I'm asking. What are you doing for the holidays?"

"Well," She says carefully, "I don't have any Thanksgiving plans. And since I have a four-day weekend, I was going to ask if you had any time off because I would love spend it with you!"

There is a warm feeling spreading in your chest. You feel your heart swell as tears spring to your eyes._ Damn emotional hormones!_ _You are becoming a giant sap!_

"I was planning to go home for the week of Christmas," She continues, "But now, now I don't know…"

"Why?" You can't help asking.

"I will miss my family, but I don't want you to be here by yourself." She says softly. "I know that you already volunteered to work."

"Bobby has a big mouth!" You grumble.

"Yeah, well, he worries about you. And I do too!" She admits. "And besides, I want to be with you!"

"You do?" You are surprised by the emotion in her voice.

"Of course I do! Silly!" Her arms tighten around you as she says this.

"Because you know, you don't have to…" You say bravely, "I would be ok… And I will be working besides…"

"Gail," She interrupts, "Right now I hate every single person who made you feel like you weren't worth it!"

Silent tears spill helplessly down your cheeks as she says this. You can't believe you get to be this lucky! You draw a shaky breath as she smoothes your cheeks with her thumbs and leans in to kiss you.

"They're all fools!" She murmurs into your lips. "You are so fucking wonderful, Gail, and if they can't see that they are just cruel, cruel idiots!"

Her eyes search yours intensely in the dim light. You suppress a sob, melting into her as her lips meet yours again, kissing you deeply. _Yup. So very lucky_!


	11. Chapter 11

Today is your birthday. If you were at home, if you were still one of Toronto's finest, your friends would be taking you out to celebrate at the Penny tonight. Your parent's would insist that you see them for a birthday celebration dinner this weekend, somewhere ridiculously expensive that you wouldn't ever pick to go on your own. If you were home, Steve would be ambushing you right now with some highly embarrassing birthday surprise in the middle of the squad room. But you're here. Today you are turning twenty-nine years old, and you don't expect anyone to know or care. But there was a chocolate frosted doughnut with multicolored sprinkles, and a candle, along with a silly card from Bobby on your desk when you got to work today. You have no idea how he knows, but it made you smile in spite of yourself. You don't have long to wait before Bobby appears out of your boss's office with your assignments for the day, as well as next week's schedule.

"Can we roll outta here in ten?" He asks, handing you a cup of coffee.

"Sure." You shrug, noncommittally, "Why not?"

You give the assignment sheet a once over with a jaundice eye. Today you will be patrolling East Cambridge through Kendal Square, and then doing a walk-through of one of the older science buildings with it's cluster of semi-private labs assigned to older students. With midterms just around the corner, you expect the place to be full. While you are there, you have been assigned to investigate some graffiti vandalizing a back stairwell, and the inside of a freight elevator. _Oh boy. Will today's excitement never end?_

"Hey Bobby!" You call after him as he turns to go, "Thanks!" You lift the doughnut in a salute, before taking a bite.

"No problem, Birthday Girl!" He winks at you.

Your phone buzzes as you take a tentative first sip of your coffee_. Not bad._

Chris: **Happy Birthday Gail!**

You feel yourself flush, pleasantly surprised that he is the first of your friends back home to remember.

Champion of the World: **Thanks Chris! You Remembered!**

Chris:** Of course I remembered! Anyway, I hope you have a good one! **

King of the Dorks:** Hey! I remembered too! Happy Birthday Gail!**

Champion of the World:** You only remembered B-cuz Chris told you :p**

King of the Dorks:** Did not! I told him!**

Champion of the World:** Whatever.**

Chris: **We miss you Gail!**

You roll your eyes, smirk, and reply.

Champion of the World: **Now you are going to make me throw up the delicious doughnut Bobby got me for breakfast!**

You feel a twinge of homesickness for the your boys, for your old life. You hate to admit it, but sometimes you miss living in what everyone called the Peckdiazstein frat house. Sure, it was messy, and loud, and there was always something going on, but it was home. And in-spite of the fact that Chris is your ex, and Dov has always been an asshole about your family name, and the privilege he still thinks it affords you, you know that they care about you more than most.

"Ok Peck! Let's roll!" Bobby calls to you from across the squad.

"Great." You grumble, rolling your eyes at him as you grab your coat and your coffee.

The morning goes by more quickly than you expected and now you are totally kicking ass on the beta copy of the war game connected with the Hubbard case. You can't quite believe they are making you check it out as part of the investigation – not that you're complaining! You can see why somebody might be willing to kill for it. With the virtual reality goggles and super sick graphics, it is possibly the most fun you can remember having with your clothes on in quite a while. You are behind enemy lines, about to attack a group of insurgents when there is somebody trying to get your attention by sharply poking at your shoulder.

"What?" You say just as sharply, without removing your goggles or pausing the game.

Poke. Poke. Poke.

You are about to commit a murder of your own. You wonder if Holly will help you dispose of the body.

"What do you want? Lt. Sanchez of the Cambridge P.D. asked me to take a look at this, so it better be important!" You growl at the annoying person who is poking you.

You are starting to get really pissed off, and it's weird because no one has treated you like this since you left Toronto.

Poke. Poke. Poke.

"That's it!" You exclaim as you hit pause on the game and whirl around, as you stand up whipping the goggles from your face. You are just about to lay into Bobby or whoever thinks they are being funny with you, when your jaw drops in shock.

"Steve?"

He smirks at you for just a minute before answering.

"Took you long enough! Happy Birthday little sister!" He reaches out to muss your hair with both hands. "Jeeze! Look at you!"

"Steve, what are you doing here?" You blink at him barely believing he is standing right in front of you.

"The International Conference on cross border Gang Activity is in Boston this year." He shrugs. "I came a day or two early to surprise my one and only little sister on her birthday, and take her out on the town – if she doesn't already have plans that is…"

"Uh, well, I kinda do…" You say with a frown.

You and Steve just look at each other for a minute. You still can't believe he's here to take you out on your birthday!

"But you know…" You say awkwardly, "Let me make a phone call. I'll see if I can change them…"

"That's cool." He smirks all too knowingly at you, "Why don't you see if your friend can join us… That would be Holly. Right?"

You freeze in the middle of reaching for your phone that is charging on your desk, and turn to look at him.

"What about Holly?" you demand. _You are going to kill Traci for telling him about Holly!_

"Whoa Gail! Relax!" Steve smirks at you. "Traci just wanted me to know you might have plans before I switched my flight and showed up here unannounced."

"Oh." You relax slightly, nodding at him. "Is Traci here too?" You ask suddenly nervous again. You know if Traci gets one good look at you she will know about your pregnancy immediately. She has a crazy sixth sense about these things that has always baffled and amazed you.

"Nope." Steve says, popping the P like you do, wrinkling his forehead, and squinting his eyes at you, "Sorry. Just me. Look, will you stop being so freaky for once?"

"Am not!" You glare at him

"Are too!" He smirks at you

"Am not!" You glare harder

"Are too!" His grin grows wider as he pokes at your ribs.

"Am not!" You dance and twist away, almost evading his annoying poky fingers.

"Are too!" He laughs at you, "And just call her. Ok?"

"Fine." You poke back at him, your finger scoring hard between his ribs as you scoot to get your phone, placing the chair between the two of you. You can see Bobby watching your antics with an amused and somewhat quizzical expression from across the room as you dial.

"Hey." You can feel the soft smile forming on your lips as Holly answers, "Steve is in town and he wants to take us out to dinner if that's ok with you."

"Steve. That's your brother, right?" Holly says, sounding a bit perplexed.

"Uh huh." You nod. You walk away from Steve, hoping for a tiny amount of privacy.

"And he just showed up?" She queries.

"He's in town for that conference on cross border gang activity." You state plainly.

"Oh that!" She says excitedly, "My supervisor just asked if I wanted to go sit in with our team on the panel about drug mules and heroine over dose!"

"You are such a nerd!" You laugh at her.

"But wait… The conference doesn't start until Monday, or Sunday night if you count the cocktail reception. Doesn't he hate those things too? And why didn't you tell me he was coming?" She sounds confused.

"Um, well yeah, I mean no, he does, but I had no idea he was going to be here. And, he came early to surprise me on my birthday." You grin, suddenly allowing the happiness you felt as a shock when you realized it was Steve poking you resurface.

"It's your birthday?" Holly asks you. And there is something weird, like concern, in the tone of her voice that worries you for some reason you can't place.

"Uh… yeah…it is." You answer, suddenly unsure where this is going, maybe wishing you hadn't let it slip.

"Oh Honey, I wish you had told me! Now I feel bad." She sounds deflated.

"I'm sorry?" You don't really know how to answer that. It isn't like you are hiding it from her it just never came up. You start to fidget and pace.

"Don't be sorry. I just wish I had known so I could have planned something special for you." She says softly.

"Oh… Well we were going to have dinner together tonight?" You offer.

"Gail, sitting in front of the TV at my place with Chinese take out is great, but it isn't special." She laughs at you.

"Come out with me and Steve?" You ask again softly.

"Yes." She says firmly after a minute, "Yes, of course."

"Ok." You don't know why you feel relieved, but you do. "Meet me here at eight? Or should we come get you?" You ask.

"I can meet you there." You can hear the warmth in her voice as she says this, "And Gail. Thanks."

"For what?" You ask, slightly taken aback by her response.

"You know, " She says softly, "For this… and letting me meet your brother…"

"Well don't thank me yet… He is kind of an ass…" You interrupt.

"Alright." She is laughing at you again. "See you at eight."

"Bye." You feel yourself smiling as you hang up your phone. "What?!" you demand as you look up to find Steve leaning on your desk, watching you with an opaque little grin .

"Nothing." He smiles knowingly at you.

You look past him and watch Bobby saunter across the room in your direction. It is all becoming so much, so overwhelming. You still can't quite believe Steve is actually here!

"Hey Bobby, " You call out to your partner as he approaches, "This is my brother Steve."

Steve pushes himself off of your desk with his right hand extended. "Detective Steve Peck, Toronto PD." He says with a cocky grin. "And Gail's brother."

"Well _Detective_," Bobby says, ignoring Steve's proffered hand, "Robert J. O'Brien, MIT Security Forces."

You look nervously between the two of them as they size each other up.

"Steve, this is my partner, Bobby." You state the obvious, not knowing what else to do.

"Nice of you to show up on her birthday." Bobby drawls, crossing his arms and lifting an eyebrow.

You feel a swell of warmth for the older, more muscular man, standing protectively between you and your brother. Even though you haven't said much about your relationship with Steve, Bobby knows how contentious your relationship with the rest of your family can be.

"It's ok Bobby," You say, "I'm glad he's here."

"Ok." Bobby shrugs, "So _Detective_, has Gail given you the tour of our _humble little headquarters_ yet?"

You can hear the sarcasm dripping from every word, and you know it isn't lost on Steve.

"No, but actually I'm going to let Gail get back to work as I go check in to my hotel. I will be back to pick my sister up after her shift. Would you care to join us for a drink after work?" Steve replies with a smile.

"Maybe." Bobby turns to look at you, "That depends…"

You know Steve loves you, but he is probably also collecting intel for your parents.

"Sure." You shrug, "Why not."

"Ok." Steve smiles at you, "Then I'll see you later little sister! You do know Mom is going to have a fit when she finds out about how much you've let yourself go." He pokes again at your thickening waistline, "Even though I think it looks good on you. You were getting to be a little too thin before you left. "

Bobby looks sharply at him, as you say, "And just who's going to tell her?"

Steve shrugs and snaps a picture with his phone.

"Good to meet you Bobby!" He smiles again and strides from the station.

_Shit._

You turn to find Bobby looking at you quizzically.

"So, when are you going to tell him?" He asks in a voice that is more gentle than usual.

"I donno Bobby, but I don't want to think about what's going to happen when they find out." You sigh.

"You know it's going to happen sooner or later." He says. "But whatever happens, I got your back."

You feel a swell of gratitude toward this gruff older man.

"I know." You say in a barely audible voice.

"Ok then Kid, let's get back to work!" He slaps you on the shoulder as he hands you the controller for your game.

"Hey Bobby!" You call after him as he turns to go, "Thanks!"

"For what?" He grins and winks at you before walking off in the direction of the evidence lock up.


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry about the delay! I hate it when work gets in the way of life! Oh well. Thank you for your patients! AND thank you for all of your encouragement, favorites, follows, PMs, Comments. Reviews, Tweets and Tumblr re-blogs!**

**I am totally un-betaed, and all mistakes are mine... etc...**

* * *

><p>You are sitting at the black granite bar of the tiny, yet elegant restaurant in downtown Boston you have no idea how Steve knew existed, never mind would take you to. It's tucked into the end of a side street, across from a louder less up-scale place you had assumed was your destination before Steve had steered you in here. Holly called to say she was running late, so now you are Bobby and Steve talking about police work as you sip at the soda water with lemon and just a splash of cranberry you ordered, much to Steve's surprise.<p>

"I'm on call all weekend." You say, as Steve lifts an eyebrow at your lack of alcohol.

"That never stopped you before." He shoots back.

"Well, maybe I don't want to screw up this time." Your answer comes out more bitterly than you had expected. You feel your stomach clench waiting to see if Steve was going to buy your flimsy excuse.

Bobby just shrugs as Steve looks over at him.

"She's a good one, your sister." Bobby, smiles at you as he says this, and you somehow know that he means it.

"Oh really." You raise your eyebrows at him.

"Yeah. Really." He grins back at you.

Whatever Steve was going to say gets lost as the door of the bar opens and the three of you turn to see Holly standing in the doorway. You feel your breath hitch slightly and a faint blush color your cheeks as she turns to find you. Her hair is smoother and shinier than usual cascading down her shoulders in soft waves over her long, dark, wool peacoat, which hangs open to reveal a deep burgundy blouse and a black suit jacket and pencil skirt that ends several inches above the knee. Her face lights up with a luminous smile when finally she spots you, and you feel yourself hopelessly blushing a darker crimson, speechless.

_Damn hormones! Damn pale skin!_

You can feel Steve watching you intently. Bobby is the first to move, going over to greet Holly with a gentlemanly kiss on the cheek and an offer to take her coat. He leads her back through the crowded bar, her over coat hanging neatly over one arm. She pulls you into a fierce hug when they reach you, and you feel your heart swell and speed up as you hug her back.

"I'm so glad you're here!" You murmur into her ear before releasing her.

She smiles nervously at you now, biting her lower lip in a way you find adorable, and sexy, knowing she is unsure if she went too far with PDA in front of your brother and in public. You smile warmly back at her feeling Steve's eyes on you the whole time. Keeping one hand gently, but firmly anchored on her waist you turn toward him.

"Steve, this is Holly." You make the introduction feeling more exposed than you thought you would.

"Hey Holly. It's nice to meet you." He says with a nod, and you can tell by the gentle smirk on his face that he totally gets what is going on between you.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you too!" Holly smiles warmly at him. "I've heard so much about you."

"All lies!" He laughs, "Unless, of course, Gail was bragging about how awesome I am!" He winks at her, and she laughs too.

"Gail tells me you are a detective in the Guns and Gangs unit of the Toronto Police." Holly says smiling at him.

"That's right." Steve smirks, "And I know our parents were hoping that Gail would follow in my footsteps, before she resigned and became a Uni-cop."

"Excuse me?" You feel Bobby bristle next to you and hear the edge in his voice.

"Come on Bobby, It's not like you guys are on a real police force anymore." Steve turns to him, "No disrespect or anything, I'm just sayin'."

The room is suddenly hot, your stomach clenching around the shame of your brother's insult; not so much for yourself, that you can handle, but for Bobby. You were hoping that they would get along.

"Steve…" You beg, pleading with him with your eyes to stop.

"No Gail, it's ok." Bobby says brusquely, placing a slightly restraining hand on your arm, "I can see where he might think that."

"I'm sorry man, really…" Steve begins to apologize. "Look… I didn't mean…"

"You know what? I can see where you might think that." Bobby interrupts, giving Steve a hard look, "But I'll have you know that the MIT Security force is made up of highly decorated law enforcement personnel from across this continent. And if your sister was not a an excellent police officer, she would not have earned her position here."

You thought Bobby was insulted, but you can't quite believe that he is standing up for you, taking offence on your behalf. It makes you feel a giant swell of affection for your partner that balloons in your chest, and prickles behind your eyes. You feel Holly moving closer behind you as well, resting her hand softly on the small of your back, in almost an embrace.

Steve looks like he is about to say something, but Bobby doesn't let him.

"I know what you're thinking," Bobby continues, "That we are just glorified rent-a-cops, but I'll have you know that most of us retired from the regular job with honors."

You want to say something, but the words are all stuck behind the giant lump in your throat. You finally manage look at him offering up a small but sincerely grateful smile. Bobby smiles fondly back.

"I hear you used to be a detective too." Holly smiles warmly at him.

"That's right." He says somewhat smugly, "I was the Sergeant Detective in charge of the K-9 special drug taskforce at Division D-4."

"Why did you leave?" You can't help but ask, in a quiet voice, hating to betray your ignorance.

"When Theresa, my youngest, was about sixteen months old, I was on a routine Marijuana bust up in the Cathedral Projects, when my team and I got caught in the crossfire between two competing gangs who were fighting over turf." He shrugs, "My partner took two in the vest. I wasn't so lucky. I remember being more afraid of what was going to happen when Kate found out, than I was about being shot." He laughs. "Fortunately the bullet went through and through, nicked my spleen, and missed my spine."

You see Steve squirm visibly and deflate a little.

"So what happened?" You know it's a dumb question, but it's all you can think to say.

Bobby smirks, "I clearly remember Kate threatening to finish the job if I ever got shot again and messed up our girls lives, as they wheeled me off to surgery. So… I was smart enough to take the early retirement package I was offered by my union rep, and get a less dangerous, better paying job. Because I never want to find out what kind of slow, painful death my wife had in mind for me."

Steve clears his throat, his shoulders sagging slightly.

"Look," He says again, "I'm really sorry. That came out all wrong earlier."

"Don't worry about it." Bobby shrugs and drinks from the beer bottle he's holding. "But speaking of which, I should go." He looks at his watch, "If I miss Theresa's Varsity Basketball game, I will be spending the rest of the weekend on your couch." He winks at you. "Happy Birthday Kid!" And turning to Steve, "No hard feelings. It's good to finally meet Gail's famous brother. You should know how proud I am to be able to call your sister my partner."

This might be the best birthday present anyone has ever given you. You watch as they shake hands and Bobby grins, knowing that he's won.

"See you Monday!" He calls over his shoulder as he swaggers toward the door, leaving a wake in the crowd as he passes.

As the evening goes on, Steve is witty and charming, in a way that makes you nervous. You can tell he is pumping Holly for information with all the subtlety of a freight train, in your opinion, but then again, you were raised by cops and are fully aware of the interrogation techniques he is currently employing on your girlfriend. Holly doesn't seem to mind, or notice. You wonder how much of this is him looking out for you, and how much will get back to your mother. Even though Steve is one of your favorite people, and you can generally trust him to have your back, you know that he will be expected to give a full report of your visit, and while he won't really harm you, he will use what he can to his advantage. You wish for just a moment that you could tell him that he's going to be an uncle, but you don't want to burden him with your secret. Not yet, anyway.

Dinner is a lovely affaire; you have to admit, even if Steve does embarrass you by having the waitstaff sing you "Happy Birthday" over the molten chocolate cake he orders for the three of you. And now the three of you have made your way back to the dark, comfortable downstairs Alibi Bar at the Liberty Hotel, where Steve is staying and the conference will be held. You are gingerly sipping the single glass of champagne you are allowing yourself for this occasion, letting the bubbles burst deliciously on your tongue and the alcohol go straight to your head. You know that it's probably scientifically impossible to be tipsy on three tiny sips of champagne, but you relax into the feeling. You smile as you watch Steve proceed ply Holly with the tequila shots he had intended to buy you. Holly is becoming more animated in her discussion of stab wounds and bullet analysis, much to your amusement. Although he won't admit it, you can tell that Steve is impressed with Holly and her knowledge of forensic police work. You are just grateful that it takes his focus from you, for the time being.

You sigh and push your mostly full glass at Holly as Steve leaves your table, going to buy another round at the bar. She drinks it down and giggles at you, clearly tipsier than she has been letting on to be.

"Gail," She says placing the empty glass in front of you, and clutching at your arm, "Are you trying to get me drunk so you can take advantage of me?"

"I am clearly not the one buying the drinks tonight, Holly." You smirk back at her, feeling a wave of affection for your adorably tipsy girl.

"You gave me champagne!" She accuses, poking you in the chest with a pointed finger to punctuate her words.

You arch an eyebrow at her and purse your lips in a silent challenge. She leans in toward you, lightly gripping your shoulder at the juncture of your neck for stability with her other hand. Your heart skips a beat, and you feel yourself blush as your body responds forcefully to her touch.

"You know how I get when I drink champagne." Her voice is a low, sexy growl in your ear that sends shivers up your spine.

Her lips are barely brushing yours when you hear Steve clear his throat loudly. The two of you break apart as you whirl around to face him.

"Ugh! God Gail! Get a room!" He mocks, smirking and then laughing at you.

You wait until he has set down the drinks before you punch him in the chest. He laughs and grabs you into a headlock, rubbing his knuckles into the top of your head. You are just about to stomp on his toes and knee him in the nuts when a deep and somewhat familiar voice intervenes.

"Hey! Is everything alright here?"

Steve releases you quickly, ruffling your hair with his palm before letting you go completely.

"Jacob! I didn't know you were here!" Steve exclaims, blushing slightly.

You look up to see Detective Jacob Blackstone from Toronto PD Narcotics standing before you. You used to see him hanging around the station. He's a hairy little man, who has always both fascinated and repulsed you. You heard your parents talking about him when they didn't know you were listening, talking about the under cover op that Nick and Andy are on right now, talking about how he's the one running it from the Canadian side. You have always wondered how much your mother's hatred for your relationship with Nick influenced his getting that particular assignment. Not that it matters anymore. You wonder if he's here, who is taking care of monitoring the safety of your friends undercover, or if it's already over.

"You didn't actually think you would be the only one getting to come to this conference, did you Peck?" Blackstone replies while reaching out to grip Steve's hand.

"You know my little sister, Gail, don't you?" Steve asks while shaking hands vigorously with him. "And this is her friend Dr. Holly Stewart, from the Massachusetts Medical Examiner's office."

"Detective Jacob Blackstone," He smiles and leers in a way that makes your skin crawl slightly.

"Wait. Wait!" You demand, "Don't you have that thing you're in charge of? How are you even here?"

"Gail…" Steve says, the tone of his voice warning you to stop.

"No, it's ok." Blackstone says turning to Steve, "She has a right to be concerned about her friends, I mean she and McNally were in the same class at the academy."

You don't know how he knows this, but he must have read your file and your application for the undercover position before you left.

"Don't worry," He says turning to you with that same smarmy grin, "They're safe enough. In fact, they're both on a little vacation furlough in Niagara while I'm here. They could have gone home for the week, but they didn't want to break out of character."

Even though it is over with Nick, even though you live here now, even though you are with Holly, and you are pretty sure you are a lesbian, you feel the color drain from your face as he says this, confirming everything you suspected was going on before you left. And it hits you. You realize it isn't Nick, but Andy's betrayal of your friendship that has your stomach in knots.

"I'm sorry." Blackstone says, gauging your reaction, "Maybe I've said too much."

"No, no. I'm just glad they're safe." You reply in a far less bitchy tone than you feel. "But listen," You continue, turning now to your brother, "I've had a long day, and it's late…"

"You're going to go?" You realize he looks slightly hurt as he says this.

"Yeah." You sigh, and in a moment of impulse you do something you never do. You lean in to hug him and murmur into his ear, "Thanks for the best birthday ever!"

"I'll see you before I go home." He says. It's not a question. Are those tears you see shimmering behind his intense blue eyes?

"Of course!" You punch him lightly on the arm. You turn to Holly who has been silently observing this entire little scene unfold. "Take me home!" You say, with an urgency you can barely contain all of a sudden.

She smiles brilliantly at you and then at Blackstone and Steve, "It was a pleasure meeting you both." She says, "Especially you!" She gives Steve a tiny kiss on the cheek that makes him blush and smile.

"Ready?" You say as you shrug on your leather jacket and take her by the hand.

You walk from the bar out into the cobblestone courtyard to catch a cab. You are about to give the driver your address, when Holly leans in and gives him hers instead. In all of the time you've known her, you have only been to her place once before. It surprises you. Before you have a chance to say anything, she smiles at you, nervously fidgeting with her glasses, and then kisses you soundly.

"It's not fair," she begins to whisper into your lips, "we haven't had a lot of time together lately, and I have had to behave myself in front of Bobby and your brother all night…"

"Mmmm, poor you.." You hum back at her.

"And you gave me champagne!" She pouts, "So unfair!"

"Uh huh…" You smile, ghosting your lips across her jaw line to nip at the sensitive skin beneath her ear.

"So now," She continues in a low voice that hitches slightly at the movement of your tongue on her skin, "I just want you in my bed."

_Your heart stops as you forget to breathe_. It's your 29th birthday, and you swear you could have died right then and there.


	13. Chapter 13

You make the cab stop at the bottom of her street in front of the late night pizza joint, shoving bills at the driver and apologizing for giving him the wrong address. The night is cold and clear. Steam rises from the runoff grates set into the street, and from the open manhole where workers are doing some kind of late night maintenance. It dances like ghosts in the waltz of yellow light coming from the utility trucks, and the flashers on the corners of yellow and black striped sawhorses that block off the area, and floats away on the chilly breeze that ruffles your hair and gets under your collar. You blow into your cupped hands for warmth, and to give yourself something to do as you watch Holly emerge from her side of the cab and steady herself slightly on stiletto heels and the cobblestone sidewalk.

"After all that, I wouldn't think you would still be hungry. Well, not for food anyway…" She teases, arching her eyebrows suggestively at you as she says this.

You watch the color rise in her cheeks, and think about how beautiful she is, and how lucky you are. You don't want to admit it's your paranoia about giving anyone, especially taxi cab drivers your actual home address that made you cut your ride short.

"I thought we might need a snack for later." You wiggle your eyebrows at her, making her giggle. _Giggle_. _It has got to possibly be the most adorable sound ever!_ _Oh my God! _You know must be in way over your head to be thinking this way! But somehow you don't mind, and the joy you hear bubbling out of Holly it makes you smile.

You open the heavy, dark wood door by it's ornate iron handle and the most heavenly aroma of freshly baking pizza, herbs and garlic hits you, making your stomach growl and your mouth water. In spite of the late hour, the place is still quite lively. There are couples at the bar, and a group of guys playing pool, and a jukebox playing classic rock.

"What can I do for you lovely ladies tonight?" The somewhat round, balding man behind the gleaming dark wood of the oak bar asks.

"We would like a large cheese pizza with garlic sauce, to go, and my friend would like a St. Germaine Champagne cocktail while we wait." You say with a smile.

This place reminds you of The Black Penny, your regular bar, back home. You offer Holly a bar stool, but you remain standing, somewhat on guard in this unfamiliar place.

"Nothing for you?" He replies as he places a tall, thin glass in front of Holly, with a fresh violet as a garnish.

"How's your coffee?" You inquire.

"Espresso." He says.

You nod.

As he turns to the large, ancient, brass machine you are impressed to see in the corner, Holly leans over to whisper in your ear, "You know, you don't have to get me drunk to have your way with me, don't you?"

The room suddenly becomes almost uncomfortably hot, and you swallow around the lump that has formed in your throat before responding. You scoot closer to her, blocking the view of her lap from the room as you run the palm of your hand up the inside of her thigh under her skirt, beneath the bar. You smirk as you watch her momentary surprise, and then her pupils dilate and her sharp intake of breath as you lean closer.

"Mmmm…" You hum affirmatively back at her.

The barman clears his throat as he slides a neat demitasse cup with a perfect curl of lemon peal in front of you.

"So…What brings you ladies out here tonight?" he asks.

You smile at him, not removing your hand from where it has nestled against Holly's intoxicating silky skin. You let your fingertips play lightly with its lovely soft texture as you answer him. "We were just on our way back to my friend's place after a night out."

"That's nice." He replies, " You live in the neighborhood? I haven't seen either of you in here before."

Holly shifts, and crosses her legs, squeezing your hand and stilling your fingers. She takes a rather large sip of her drink before replying. "Yes, I live right up the hill from here. But I'm still rather new to the neighborhood."

"That's nice." He smiles at you, "I'm Anthony."

"I'm Holly and this is Gail." Holly smiles at you with a mischievous glint in her eye. She extends her hand to shake, and you realize that your right hand is still trapped between the vice of Holly's thighs, making it impossible to shake his hand or turn to face him fully, so you simply give a little smile and nod.

"A pleasure." He says with a nod of his own. "Well I should go check on your pizza. It should be up any minute now."

As you watch him retreat toward the kitchen, Holly sips on her drink with a smirk. "Can't take you anywhere!" She teases, "If I let you go, are you going to behave?"

"At least until you get me home." You smirk back at her. "Besides, I don't really think you want to crush that hand. You like it way too much."

"You're right. I do." She says softly, looking into your eyes while shifting her legs to release you.

You swallow hard, suddenly flushed as you feel the impact of her words and the raw desire you see in her eyes thunder through you.

Holly refuses to let you pay when he returns with the fragrant, warm box. The temperature outside seems to have dropped again, and she hooks your arm as you march up her street, the buzz of expectant want causing you to pick up your pace. Soon, the vast brick facade of the old warehouse that has been converted into artist studios, and lofts looms before you. She fumbles for her keys, while pressing her body into yours, and your ass into the cold granite of the top of the wall that acts as a railing at the top of the wide, stone stairs. Kissing you soundly as she opens the iron bound door, the urgent longing that surges through you makes you feel like you might explode. She tastes like languid summer days, and Christmas morning, and necessity, and hope, with a sweet aftertaste of champagne. You barely notice as she pulls up the gate and tugs you gently forward into the waiting, ancient freight elevator, which is little more than a moving wooden platform, and you are sure is a deathtrap. She hands you the pizza as it lurches to a halt, laughing quietly into your lips at your surprised reaction.

You follow quickly behind, as she strides down the cavernous, darkly lit hallway to what is clearly a corner unit on the end. You have only been here once, in daylight, and never into her actual home. You feel your stomach clench and thrum with a pulsing need and nervous anticipation that echoes through out your body and beats a feral rhythm in the pulse point of your throat. You barely notice the spectacular view of the city below through her towering arched windows, because all you can see is her. Leaning in the doorway you hesitate briefly as she drops her keys in the bowl by the door and toes her shoes off. Illuminated by only the glow from the street, her eyes glitter with such open ardor you have to touch her now or you know you will burst into flames. You set the all but forgotten pizza down on the bench just inside her loft and turn to catch her by the wrist. The door slams miraculously shut behind you. Your bodies collide and she pushes you up against its cool, smooth surface, her face a dangerous mere centimeters from yours, the heavy warmth of her breath on your skin. You feel the gush of heat, thick and fluid between your thighs, your heart hammering wildly against your ribs as her mouth finds the juncture of your neck and her hands push insistently at the shoulders of your coat, willing it off. It falls to the floor with a thud, quickly followed by her own. As your hands reach to work at the rear zipper of her skirt, she pushes you firmly back, pinning you to the door.

"Shhhh…" She murmurs into the sensitive skin of your ear, taking a moment to nibble delicately at the lobe, "I just want you…"

Never before have you allowed anyone to simply take you, to be in such total control; not any of your dates, not your one night stands, not Nick, and certainly not Chris. You involuntarily whimper when she pushes her hipbone into your pelvis, slipping her firm thigh between your legs, pinning you as her hands find their way under your sweater. Fingertips linger on the sensitive skin beneath your breasts, skimming along the indents between your ribs.

"Holy fuck Holly!" You breathe out, as she cups your breasts, her thumbs brushing over your hardening nipples.

Her look is triumphant, cocky, and all together pleased with herself, as she pulls back, dropping her hands to your waist to gaze at you before leaning in to kiss you again.

"Let's go to bed." She demands, her voice thick and husky. It fuels the inferno raging inside of you.

You follow her up the spiral stair that lead to her upper floor, feeling as if you have run a marathon to the foot of her bed. She steps back a pace to click on a low, stained glass lamp on her bedside table.

"I want to see you."

She bites her lower lip as she reaches back to unzip her skirt and let it slide from her hips, her eyes never leaving yours. You barely contain the whine that rises in the back of your throat at the blatant longing you see smoldering there. Soon you are both naked. You take a moment to take the sight of her in. Her skin seems to glow, molten and golden, in the amber light of the lamp. Her body moves all as one piece with the simple grace of a wild animal as she glides forward to stand between your legs. And her eyes, her eyes capture you in their depths, in the sincere adoration you scarcely dare to believe is meant for you. You lick your lips as you reach up to cradle her jaw in your fingertips, pulling her closer.

"You are so beautiful!" She murmurs, before her lips fuse to yours once more. And then she is on you, and inside you, and all over you. There are fingers that explore curves, depths, and crannies, and mouths that suck, and taste, and bite, and hips that buck and slide. You are beyond caring, beyond reason, spinning dangerously out of control. Your moan becomes a wordless shout as she enters you while sucking hard on your left nipple, turning you inside out, making you forget everything but this, everything but her. Holding on, fingers digging into flesh, breath coming in gasps, and moans, and cries, you surrender to her as she flays you open with her touch, binds you to her unrelenting rhythm, and burns you to the ground with her eyes. And when you cum, it is the flash that leaves your shadow etched behind on stone, it cracks you open as you battered by each atomic shock wave, vaporizing everything you know, transforming the very molecules of your being into light.

When you finally open your eyes, she is there snuggled up to your side, her legs hooked and curled beneath yours. You feel her arms tighten possessively when you turn your head to look at her.

"Hi." She whispers, her fingertips ghosting along your cheek.

"Hi." You whisper back with a sleepy smile.

"I love you." She whispers, leaning in to kiss you. "So very much."

"I love you too." You say it back shyly, watching your forefinger trace her collarbone.

She cups your jaw gently in her fingertips, causing you to look up into her eyes. She takes a deep breath, "Maybe you don't know it, but I just feel so lucky sometimes. You know? I never in my life thought someone like you would ever fall for me too…"

Your heart swells at the look you can barely credit in her eyes, at the wonder you feel from her words. Surely she must be teasing you. You bite back the automatic sarcastic retort, and swallow hard as you realize she isn't.

"I'm the lucky one." You finally murmur.

She kisses you harder and you think, this has got to be the best birthday ever.


End file.
